


Thaumaturgic

by LadysDaze



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Angry Bakugou Katsuki, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Except it's Baku and Reader, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Miraculous Ladybug AU, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Pining Bakugou Katsuki, Protective Bakugou Katsuki, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Tsundere Bakugou Katsuki, hello person reading the tags!, kwami - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2020-06-03 15:57:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 86,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19467280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadysDaze/pseuds/LadysDaze
Summary: Moving from place to place all your life had never been something that made you happy. So when your parents had promised you’d be able to spend the rest of your high school career in Japan, it was a dream come true. Two and half years of staying in one place and actually having the chance to make friends further proved to you this entire scenario was a dream come true.An idea that would become more and more true as your parent’s exhibition on Chinese jewelry becomes the epicenter for a scenario you had never assumed would happen. A thief attempting to steal the ancient treasures, enchanted stones with ancient creatures inside of them, and the chance to become a real-life superhero and save Tokyo from the man who stole one of the missing gems.Plus, a certain ash blonde haired male who had caught your eye and you his. The only issue being, rather then a direct line of love, its turned… more into a square.(A Miraculous Ladybug AU with Bakugou Katsuki and reader!) (Updates every Wednesday)





	1. New Beginnings and Old Lore

**Author's Note:**

> AN- Dearest readers… while I know this is a MIRACULOUS AU, please keep in mind that I’m using it as a mere base for this fic. While I LOVE miraculous and the world it has created, there are some parts that I personally don’t think work well. As such, I will be changing somethings in this fic. So please, be respectful and don’t try and point these changes out. Since this is an AU fanfic I have every right to write the fic in the way I think it will work best. Comments that are rude or trying to point out these changes will be ignored and deleted. Think of this piece like my own personal take on Miraculous with the characters from BNHA. With that said, I do hope you will enjoy this fanfic and what I have planned for it.

Ch.1 - New Beginnings and Old Lore

_ AN- Dearest readers… while I know this is a MIRACULOUS AU, please keep in mind that I’m using it as a mere base for this fic. While I LOVE Miraculous and the world it has created, there are some parts that I personally don’t think work well. As such, I will be changing some things in this fic. So please, be respectful and don’t try and point these changes out. Since this is an AU fanfic I have every right to write the fic in the way I think it will work best. Comments that are rude or trying to point out these changes will be ignored and deleted. Think of this piece like my own personal take on Miraculous with the characters from BNHA. With that said, I do hope you will enjoy this fanfic and what I have planned for it. _

Had you known that this little piece of fabric would be so difficult to tie, you would have opted for the clip-on bow tie that had also been resting in your closet this morning. But after about nearly twenty minutes of trying to make your tie look neat and professional, you were ready to give up. The sounds of clicking heels made you turn to look towards the figure of a woman who was approaching you. 

She paused, looking at you with a raised brow. You laughed awkwardly, pointing towards the tie and seeing her shake her head. Your mother did her best to hide her laughter as she came over towards you and began to tie together the fabric into a perfect knot. Moving away, your mother continued to shake her head, looking at you with a soft smirk.

“Just like your father… he always relies on me to tie them as well.” She clicked her tongue, shaking her head as if she was disappointed in you, though you knew that humorous tone she had.

“Well, this was my first time wearing a tie…” You pouted softly.

“I was going to ask where your little ribbons and bow ties went.” The older woman spoke, motioning for you to follow her. 

“I wanted to look more adult… since, well… this is my first time doing a tour.” You breathed inwards, trying to fight the nerves in your stomach.

“It’s not your dress that makes you an excellent resource of information, my dear.” Your mother bopped her finger against your nose real quick before pausing before the lobby. “It’s your brain and how well you articulate and cooperate with a group! Now, hurry. The class finally arrived and has been waiting for their guide.”

You nodded, glossing over yourself once more before pushing through the door and walking into the lobby of the museum. Your posture going formal and your walking speed professional and business-like.

Your mother watched from where she had been left behind, nodding to herself at how her sixteen-year-old had grown into an adult so quickly. Then turned to return to where her husband was more than likely overworking himself on the new items he had recovered on his latest expedition. You could handle this, she knew you could… after all, it wasn’t like you hadn’t been beside both your parents in the last sixteen years and had grown to learn about their work and artifacts along with them.

You approached the dark-haired man who appeared to be the head teacher. His students all mingling and speaking in small little groups. You strayed a bit away from the teens who seemed to be around your age. Due to being around adults so much in your life, you had learned how to speak and talk to adults much more than those your age. Thus, the teacher was your go to, as you knew you needed to get this tour started.

“Are you Aizawa-sensei of Yuuei Academy?” You asked, catching the attention of the teacher who looked towards you, brow raising slightly.

“Yes.” The man spoke bluntly. “Are you… the guide?”

He didn’t seem upset at a mere child having shown up, but rather taken a bit off guard by it. Perhaps he wanted to see if you were up to chops to give this tour, and only time would tell if he truly would be happy with your guiding of him and his nineteen students.

“Yes, I am. And I assure you despite my age I know my stuff.” You bowed politely towards him. “Now, if you would do me the honors of calling your students to attention, I would like to begin the tour of the Asian history museum. I see on my information you all have passes to our new exhibit as well, so I suggest we start there as it’s still the morning and not many people have arrived to see it yet.”

Aizawa nodded, turning towards his students. “Everyone, quiet down. We are starting, so show our guide your respect and attention.”

His students filled in close to you, each looking to have more visible expressions: surprise, happiness, intrigue, shock, anger, boredom. It was clear they were all over the place and you could only hope your little lecture and lesson on what they would be seeing would catch the attention of at least five of them.

“Hello.” You bowed again. “I’m (Last Name)-san. I’m the daughter of the museum’s director and our archeologist. My parents founded this museum years ago and I have seen many of the sites and artifacts up close. As such, they have asked me to show you all around today in their stead.”

“Where are the archeologists today, if you don’t mind my asking?” A tall male with navy blue hair asked you.

“My parents are working in the special collections room today. We have a new exhibit going up next month and they want to make sure it's ready.” You waved towards the beginning of the new and most popular exhibit. “Now if there aren’t any more immediate questions, please follow me and we’ll start our tour of the ancient Asian jewelry.”

The students followed you, chattering amongst themselves. A few camecoming up to you to ask you a few questions of their own as you all walked them all inside. A black haired female and the navy haired male seemed to come closer to you, a few other hanging back in listening distance.

“So you’ve been at the excavation sites for all these artifacts?” The black haired girl asked and you nodded.

“Yes. I actually was the one who discovered the first items I will be showing you all.” You paused, motioning towards an open case of jewels for them all to see. “From China, we have the mysterious Miraculous Jewels.”

You watched as all the students started to swarm around the display case that was in the center of the room. Each lookeding with wonder towards the shiny gems, a total of nineteen in numerous colors, sizes, and cuts. It was clear that showing the best of the exhibit first was the route to go in order to gain the attention of everyone.

“Could you all scoot back a bit.” You warned them all. “We have a very sensitive alarm around these gems… so I don’t want to have to go and shut down the security system if it’s set off. The reboot takes a long time… and so it’s a bit annoying to do.”

They all nodded, backing up as you began to speak to them all about the history of the jewels and where they came from. If you could at least hold their attention a little bit from here, then you could give yourself the confidence to be able to entertain them through the next ninety minutes.

“These jewels were recovered a few years ago in the Eastern Mountains of China, in an long-buried temple of sorts. While research is still currently being done to understand why these pieces of jewelry specifically were so well preserved and written about as if they were to be gifts from the Gods themselves, we can say for certain that they are priceless pieces of history.

“Records found alongside the gems reveals that they were owned by not only the emperors but also several noblemen and women who had strong connections to numerous dynasties. Speaking of Chinese dynasties, follow me and I’ll show you a few of the jewels from the samurai era of Japan that are worth today around ten million yen.”

You started to shuffle everyone forward, facing another display. Your voice going off on something about decorated swords or whatnot, having the attention of nearly every student. Towards the back though, as in most group situations, it appeared a set of students had started to talk a bit more.

“If I had known that this museum had such cute tour guides… I would have come by more often.” A straw blonde haired male with a black lightning bolt smile widely, watching you talk but not paying any sort of attention to anything you were saying.

“I don’t think Aizawa-sensei brought us here for you to get a new crush, Kaminari…” A redhead next to him spoke, watching his friend light up slightly.

“I never said anything about having a crush on her! O-only that I think she’s cute, Kirishima!” Kaminari spoke back, noticing laughing towards his other side. “What’s so funny, Sero?”

Sero shrugged. “It’s nothing… just funny how you’re so into looking at her, but not listening to her.”

Kaminari rose a brow. “Huh? Why would that make you laugh?”

Sero’s lips pulled upwards into a large smile, pointing in front of Kaminari. “It’s funny cause she just called you out and everyone is looking at you.”

Kaminari deadpanned, looking in front of him now and seeing that Sero’s words were indeed true. You looked at him with slight worry, Kaminari’s blush worsening.

“A-ah sorry I didn’t hear you…” Kaminari admitted, a few of the girls in his class sighing at this.

“I asked if you had anything you’d like to add, seeing as you’re talking as much as me.” You smiled politely. “And I’m the guide… so you must have something interesting to add.”

Several snickers broke out among the class, and Kaminari shamefully apologized for interrupting you. You accepted his apology and went back to talking, now onto something about how diamonds are forms and how technology back then allowed for the formation of some structures and everyday objects, motioning towards some old pots and plates lining the walls.

“Dude… she’s cute but just as scary as Bakugou!” Kaminari whispered, looking towards the ash blonde who was hanging back as well.

Bakugou rose a brow at Kaminari, then listened back in on what you were saying. It appeared even the class hothead was interested in your words. But then again, Bakugou was in the top three academic performers, so of course, he would be interested in the history of jewelry.

“Man…” Kaminari sighed. “I can’t understand a word of this.”

“Just pay attention.” Kirishima harshly whispered back. “It’s pretty cool when you listen in.”

Kaminari sighed, leaning back a little bit. He was aware of all the priceless objects around him and wanted to make sure he didn’t make this day any more embarrassing for himself. But as luck would have it, it appeared another museum-goer had seen the male leaning back with poor balance. Kaminari called out suddenly, feeling himself being roughly dragged back, crashing into a glass object.

The sounds of a scream and shattering glass were what made you stop mid-sentence. But it was the sounds of alarms and then the lights cutting out that made you panic. Your heart sunk into your chest as you looked over through the flashing lights to see the miraculous display had indeed been struck, a blonde male laying and groaning painfully among the shards.

“Crap!” You shouted without thinking, running off towards one of the security displays and starting to mess around with it. 

“Code… code... code…?!” You screamed at yourself, the panic setting in making you have a hard time remembering what exactly the code was supposed to be to shut it all off.

“Move!” Someone spoke next to you.

You were shoved aside roughly, looking up to see two armed security guards running into the room. One of them immediately moving people away from the display case and the other entering the override code. The student who had fallen in was being helped up by his friends. 

It was at this moment, you realized you were also being held up from falling onto the ground. You blinked, looking up to see an ash blonde boy, who had been in the back the entire time had acted to catch you from the officers who had shoved you aside.

You blinked, looking up at him. “O-Oh… um… thanks.” 

He rolled his eyes. “Pay attention and do your job, nerd.”

You blinked. He was definitely harsh with his words, but then again… you were an employee here. And currently, laying in the arms of a stranger was not too terribly professional. You got up from his arms, dusting yourself off only to be set into his arms again.

“Fucking watch it, assholes!” The ash blonde yelled, seeing a group of people running out and towards the exit thinking the alarm was for a fire.

You got out of the teen's arms once more, blinking harshly as the regular lights were turned back on. Looking out you could feel your stomach drop though. The display case had been smashed to pieces, the straw blonde was bleeding from a few places… but the worst of it…

There were now only sixteen jewels. The red, black, and purple ones that had been sitting on the top sections were no longer there or among the glass shards below. Meaning that in the five minutes this entire situation had occurred… something had happened to the jewels.

And something in your gut told you it wasn’t simply someone accidentally falling into the exhibit case and the alarms system having a bug in it.


	2. A Red Beetle and A Black Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Red Beetle and A Black Cat

Ch.2- A Red Beetle and A Black Cat

You really wished you could say that after the alarm had been turned off and everyone calmed down that things would have gotten better from there, but with three rare jewels missing and no one knowing where they had gone or what to do… it resulted in some very tense feelings from the museum directors, their staff, and the visitors in general.

Security had been ordered to frisk every single patron and was slowly making their way down the line of at least 100 people between a half dozen guards. You and your tour group were the last ones to be searched it appeared, with how your group was the only ones to not run out of the room when things started.

You sighed, looking around and seeing as you were not exactly needed any longer. You politely excused yourself from the others, apologizing for the troubles and wishing everyone a good afternoon, and made your way back to your secret paradise inside the museum. You knew you’d be searched later, but in all honesty, you didn’t want to have to wait in a giant line any more than the rest of the kids your age seemed to want to.

When you had first arrived at this museum a month ago and your parents started to settle into their offices, you had found an empty broom closet. And after a day of work, had converted it into an office of your own. You even had a small window installed at the top to make it look less broom closet and more like an actual private space for yourself. Your mother was kind enough to put a door sign on it as well, making you really feel important. 

You had barely settled into your small little makeshift lounge room when you heard the doors swing open again and various sets of footsteps walking past the little room. You got close to the window, peeking out as you saw several figures starting to walk by your little room towards the conference room, but you doubted there would be a business discussion . Rather, you suspected it was an interrogation.

Your father was walking in front of two security guards, and behind the three of them were the UA teacher and the boy who had the strange black bolt in his hair. You inhaled sharply, knowing this poor boy was going to get your father’s direct rage about what had happened. His greatest find was now missing three pieces and he certainly was not happy about it.

You shook your head, settling down into the plush seat you had in this space. Maybe some Youtube videos would cheer you up a bit, seeing as your first tour had gone terribly. You needed to do one last thing though, and get this tie off. You were able to understand why your father always removed this thing first when he got home… it was a tight and restricting strip of fabric and you wanted it off!

You undid the tie and let relief flood through you as you breathed in some air. Dropping the tie down beside you, you didn’t expect to hear a small clink as you did so. But you did, and your eyes dipped down to see a small black gem peeking out from inside the knot of the tie.

~~~~~

Kaminari inhaled sharply, looking down at his knees. The museum director was pacing back and forth in front of him, looking a terrifying mix between pissed off and utterly confused. It was as if the worst parts of his teacher and ash blonde friend had combined together. He didn’t know what to do or say other than just sitting here and hope that the worst was not going to come.

“Do you have any idea what kind of disaster this is, young man?” The director finally started up. “Do you have any idea the value of those artifacts?”

“N-no, sir.” Kaminari spoke, trying to be as polite as he could manage. 

“Well… I’d say they are worth more value, heritage, money, and effort then you will ever see in any of those things… in your lifetime!” The director was going red in the face, fast. 

“I’m sorry, sir.” Kaminari tried his best to apologize, but the man was not having it.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it!” The director slammed his hand down onto a table. “If anything, I’ll be pressing grand theft charges onto you!”

Kaminari’s eyes widened. “B-but I didn’t steal anything! I got pushed into that glass!”

The director shook his head. “Oh, what a perfect story, huh? You happen to fall right into the glass at the perfect moment and it wasn’t you who took my precious artifacts, it was some invisible person the security cameras didn’t catch.”

He looked utterly shocked, turning to Aizawa. “Are these really the type of students you allow into your school?”

Kaminari dropped his head, feeling a good mix of shame, anger, frustration, and powerlessness in this situation. Aizawa rose a brow towards his usually happy-go-lucky student. It was true Kaminari was not the brightest of them all, but he was in no way clumsy enough to break a display on his own. And the teacher was certain the male also would never steal anything.

“While it's true that Kaminari was the one who broke the display case, I believe you are jumping the gun on these accusations.” Aizawa began. “I saw the footage as well as moments ago when the guards came to get Kaminari. And the footage cuts out between the power cutting out. Meaning, it shows Kaminari next to the case moments before it breaks and then it is broken. It doesn’t show how he got pushed into it. So it’s likely someone could have pushed him and taken your missing gems.”

The director’s eyebrow twitched. But Aizawa was not done yet. 

“I also don’t tell you how to do your job or how to run your museum, so it would be appreciated if you didn’t tell me or UA who to let in… especially when you refuse to see the merit in the students we see more worth in than the average person.”

The director stood up, motioning towards Aizawa. “May I speak with you outside for a few minutes please?”

The adults in the room left, leaving Kaminari to only hear muffled words and heated words being further exchanged through the door. He hunched over, trying to better control his emotions, but was having no luck.

Being pushed or not… he really messed up this time. If he had just paid attention and not gotten distracted he wouldn’t be in this situation. Instead, he was possibly going to be charged with grand theft and lose his spot at UA... 

His chest stung and he held his head low. Shaking his thoughts away, he took out his phone, wanting to find some sort of distraction from this. Much like his usual luck though, it appeared he had forgotten to charge it last night, and thus the battery kicked off the moment he tried to use the device.

“This is why my bag is filled with portable chargers…” He sighed to himself taking out one of the chargers and was happy to see it was full.

As he started to unravel the cord to connect the charger to his phone, the male noticed something moving just beyond his vision. Kaminari rose a brow, seeing a small dainty purple butterfly coming towards him. He didn’t question it either as it landed right on his charger.

He only questioned the animal when it burst into light and turned his charger purple. As, he was sure butterflies did not do that. But before he could have any sort of reaction, something strange happened once more.

_ ‘Hello there. It looks to me like you’re being accused of a crime you didn’t commit.’ _

~~~~~

You blinked, lifting up the small black gem. Your eyes widening when you recognized it right away. This was the black miraculous! And somehow… it had ended up in your tie and now was in your possession. You were more than dead if your parents found out you had this! Hell, you were more than dead if the security detail the museum had found out you had this.

“Crap crap crap…” You muttered. “I have to fix this somehow… but-”

Before you could even finish your sentence though, it appeared the little stone had turned radioactive with the sheer intensity of glowing it had suddenly done. You shielded your eyes and looked away. By the time the light cleared, you glanced around.

The small little black stone seemed to have done some sort of magic trick, as now it had formed into a stone with a green cat paw in its design. Attached to it, was a chain, making the entire thing into a necklace now.

“Oh… so you’re a necklace type of girl, huh?” A squeaky voice spoke beside you, making you scream and fall onto the floor, dropping the necklace from your hands.

You put yourself into a defensive position looking around and trying to find who had just spoken to you. Was the thief in here… did they know you had the black gem they were trying to get? Then again… what exactly was this black jewel?

“You okay kid?” A small creature floated down into your vision. “You sure are a jumpy human.”

Your eyes widened, seeing a little floating cat creature, holding the miraculous. You gently reached out your finger, poking it in its cheek. The creature looked displeased and then floated away, looking to be interested in anything except you now.

“Wow, this is sure a small room! Is this the size of average human rooms now? You all keep downgrading between my holders!” The creature spoke, dropping the necklace on your extended finger. “Oh by the way, do you have any cheese? I’m starving!”

“W-wait… what are you?” You shook your head. “A-and am I hallucinating?”

The creature laughed, floating down beside you. “Nope! I’m as real as you are! I’m Plagg, the kwami of the Black Cat miraculous!”

“Well okay, then Plagg…” You decided to just roll with this. “Why are you here?”

“Don’t ask me… you were the one who just asked the miraculous for help? I’m just the way to do it… and my miraculous is how you’ll be able to use my powers.” He spoke as if you were supposed to know this beforehand.

As you watched this strange floating being started to dig through your lunch box, delighted to have found some cheese on your sandwich and take it for himself, you looked down at the gem with a curious expression. You truly didn’t know what to think… or what exactly you had done to ‘activate’ this magical gem. And the creature that came with it was definitely not helpful. Maybe you should go and ask-

A loud and booming explosion sounded from right next door. Making you and the kwami each fall towards the floor. Both of you looking at one another before going towards the small window and looking out. The hallway was lined with scorch marks, the lights flickering. It appeared that this day was getting that much stranger… and that much worse.

“Alright kid, listen up.” Plagg suddenly got serious, stuffing the rest of the cheese into his mouth. “I’m only going to explain this once… so you better listen!”

~~~~~

Moments prior, much of the remaining class of UA students were making use of their time waiting in the small cafe area of the museum. Apparently, Kaminari had found himself in quite some trouble and now they were all waiting to see exactly what was to come out of it and slowly passing the time by talking or scrolling through their phones.

“I wonder how Kaminari is doing…” Kirishima sighed, looking towards his two friends who remained at the table since Kaminari and Aizawa had disappeared.

“Hopefully not getting arrested…” Sero looked worried for his friend. “Do you think the museum will try to put the blame on him since… well, since he was the one who broke the display case?”

“It’s unfair if they do! Kaminari didn’t steal anything! He would never steal things, especially not priceless artifacts!” Kirishima boomed, supportive of his friend until his own dying breath.

The chair besides the two talking teens screeched, making them both look towards the ash blonde who was now standing up and starting to walk away. Kirishima and Sero exchanging looks towards Bakugou as if asking where he was going. Sensing and hearing his friends’ growing silence and worry, Bakugou pointed towards the bathroom. Kirishima and Sero continued on their conversation, seeing now that their grumpy friend was only leaving to use the restroom.

Bakugou entered the bathroom but paused a moment. Something weird had hit his foot and the male paused, looking down towards the ground. On the bathroom floor, now kicked slightly more to the side thanks to his foot, was a red gem. 

“Oh fuck.” He bent down, talking the small gem into his hands, recognizing it right away.

It looked like one of the missing gems had been dropped and somehow ended up in here. Now it was in his hands and the male knew he would have to give it back… but with the museum jumping the gun and possibly blaming Kaminari… who knew what they might think if he waltzed up and handed back one of the three missing gems.

Speaking of… where were the other two? Had the thief made his way into here and escaped? 

The large and open window in the restroom seemed to be a logical guess. So… it looks like the asshole who set all this up had used Kaminari as some ‘at the moment’ fall guy and taken off with the other two gems for who knows what reasons… possibly money.

The ash blonde didn’t have much more time to think on it though, as an explosion rattled the building. He lurched forward, dodging pieces of wood from the door and what looked to be beams of electricity.

Not wanting to get smashed or fried, the male locked himself in one of the stalls. So much for his plans to get away from the others for minutes… now it looked like he was literally barricading himself inside the bathroom… from whatever was going on outside.

“Shit…” Bakugou cursed, trying to think of some way out of here. 

After a moment of silence, he charged out, looking to where his friends had just been. His carmine hues catching onto the images of tables flipped over, flickering lights, and his classmates all seeming to have taken cover behind the fried and scorched table. Standing in the middle though, hands encased in electricity, was a male.

He had black hair, a yellow lightning bolt in the center. On his hand producing the electricity looked to be some sort of wire device that was literally sucking out the power from any and all electronics nearby. 

Bakugou dive behind a corner, not wanting to be spotted by this guy. Though… he looked familiar, but couldn’t place it. He felt as if he had seen this weirdo before… and multiple times too!

Bakugou watched as the male shot another beam of electricity forward, marching out through the broken hole in the wall and heading out onto the street. Soon out of sight, and seeming to cause much more damage outside as he made his way out.

“What the fuck was that?” Bakugou cursed to himself, seeing his classmates come out of hiding.

“Was that… was that Kaminari?” Ashido looked startled, Bakugou observing from where he was still away and hidden from them all.

“It sure looked like him… but since when could he shoot lighting?!” Uraraka was raving.

“He seemed really mad too…” Kirishima’s fist tightened.

“We can talk about this later!” Yaoyorozu had taken over. “Let’s all get out of the building and find a safe place to wait this out! Come on!”

Bakugou blinked his eyes. Kaminari had powers and was going on a rampage? What a sudden twist in his usual day. But… then who was supposed to stop him? In all the comic books he read as a kid, and the movies he watched now as a teen… this was supposed to be the cliche moment a hero showed up.

But this was reality… and how cliche would it be if suddenly-

The jewel in Bakugou’s hand tingled, letting out a bright light from where he hid behind the corner. The male opening his hand to watch the gem turn into a ring with a red gem in the center, five dots making up a design in it.

Then… there was some floating ladybug creature looking at him.

“Hello! I’m Tikki!” The creature greeted, smiling. “You must be the one who wishes to use my power!”

Bakugou rose a brow. “What?”

Tikki shook her head. “You wanted to do something, and my Miraculous granted you your wish. So you are free to use my power through the miraculous to fight evil!”

Bakugou deadpanned. “Is this some shitty joke?”

The ladybug creature shook her head. “No! I’ll explain everything to you!”

“Then hurry and fucking do it.”

Tikki looked shocked by the language but continued on. Bakugou listening, a part of him actually intrigued by the idea of powers and fighting evil. It was as if his childhood dream of being a superhero was coming true. 

But then again… he’d see what this giant floating beetle had to say before he did anything. After all, something possessed Kaminari, and he certainly didn’t want to end up the same way if he put on this weird ring and did whatever this bug was telling him.

But with the prospect of getting actual powers, fighting crime, and being a hero… he’d at least listen. He may be crass and rude… but the idea of being a hero was too good to him. So… he’d at least hear the bug out and save the idiot who got possessed.

It wasn’t every day this happened after all, so he might as well act upon it.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. One Villain and Two Heroes

Ch.3 - One Villain and Two Heroes

“All you have to say is: Tikki! Transform Me!” The floating red bug instructed, having just finished her quick rundown of what his powers would be and how to use them.

“Let’s fucking kick Kaminari’s ass back into being a happy idiot then…” Bakugou grumbled as a deathly excited grin came onto his face. Tikki sensed he wasn’t about to let her finish her explanation of things.

“B-Bakugou wait! There are a few more vital things-”

“Tikki! Fucking transform me!” He shouted from inside a little broom closet, nearly knocking over a mop as he held the hand the red ring was on.

Soon enough though his body was basked in a bright red and white light, turning him into a real-life hero. And when the lights finally faded, he took to looking at himself as best he could in the mirror.

The costume wasn’t bad. He had a black mask that went off the sides to form what looked like red explosions. He had bulky black pants on the bottom, and on his top was a fitted armored shirt that was black and red. The outfit wasn’t bad at all… in fact he liked it a lot. It was edgy and scary looking, something he would definitely want to wear if he ever was a real hero.

What ticked him off though… was what this power did to his hair. It was still ash blonde… but the ends were… well, they were pretty much red frosted tips. Each ending strand of his hair was a deep rose red.

He was about to complain about new hairstyle when suddenly the lights above him kicked off entirely. The much-needed reminder that he could talk shit about the crappy hair he got later, the male took off running to find where that stupid idiot had gone and stop him from causing further damage to the city.

It appeared that this little magical being also made him much more agile, stronger, and keener with his senses than he was before. He had literally just leaped on top of a building, after all, and now was running towards where he could see sparks of electricity flying free.

“Fucking hell…” The male grumbled, seeing the path of destruction that led to where he could see the evil version of Kaminari wreaking havoc. 

It seemed his words had made the other male’s ears perk up. And thus with a quick turn and shooting of a bolt of lightning, Kaminari had turned his attention away from the police barricade he was attempting to electrocute to now trying to do that exact thing to Bakugou.

“Someone else here to ruin my fun?” Kaminari yelled, looking and acting much unlike his usual self. “Then I have someone else to prove I can be much worse to than a stupid jewel thief!”

Bakugou reached for his special weapon, ready to use it against his classmate when he instead was pushed out of the way and pushed upwards with a gust of air. When he blinked, he saw himself sitting beside a girl.

She looked at him with a smile, putting away some oversized fan she had. She had a pair of black cat ears on her head, and was dressed similarly to him… including a necklace with a green cat paw on it.

“Hey there!” She greeted, acting much too calm and friendly for nearly being burned to a crisp. “You must be my partner I was told about!”

Bakugou’s eye twitched. “I don’t need a damn partner. Now out of my way! Lucky damn Charm!”

He grabbed the little hand grenade on his waist. The only one he got… so he had to make it count. The other one of his other side would be used to fix this entire mess. Pulling the pin, the male threw it up into the air. The little capsule burst with ladybugs and then he caught an item in his hands.

“Oh. Cool magic trick!” The cat girl spoke. “Though… it's kinda lame your power only explodes into a curtain hook…”

“Shut up! It's supposed to be the key to my victory!” He blinked, looking towards you with a rage. “And I told you to get lost!”

“So mean!” You took out your little fan. “I have a power too you know!”

“Is it cooling yourself down when it's fucking hot?” He snarked you.

“So this is where you went…” Kaminari appeared on the little roof beside the pair of you. “Now face the awesome power of Chargebolt!”

“No… my power is this!” You spoke as Kaminari started to charge up his own attack. 

You were much quicker though. Opening your fan as you called out ‘Cataclysm!” Your fan glowing with black energy as you took aim towards the male. In the next moment, you had sprung upwards, dodging Kaminari’s electric attack and slamming him downwards. 

Bakugou watched in horror as the two of you fell off the building and ran to the side to try and save you both. Instead, he witnessed you use your power to create and giant crater in the ground, slamming Chargebolt into it and thus keeping him inside and unable to move.

“Ha! Electric is weak against ground!” You cheered, watching the evilized male struggle.

Bakugou was speechless… in a reckless and stupid way… that was brilliant. But now… he needed to help you. He still hadn’t used his own power and from how you were trying to pull off the akumatized object… you needed his help.

“Fucking move, stupid cat…” He barked, shoving the curtain hook into the small opening.

With a tough tug, Bakugou sent the little electric shooter up out of the ground and it crashed onto the floor. Breaking upon the impact and letting a little purplish-black butterfly lose from the object.

Taking the other grenade and pulling the pin off it as well, he watched as the small little butterfly was sucked inside. And then he threw it up into the air. The cat next to him watching with wide eyes as he did his other secret magic trick.

“Reversed!” He shouted, millions of ladybugs starting to fly around and clean up the damage done to the area.

After a minute, everything looked to be back in order. No damages and everyone who had been in danger was cheering. But before Bakugou could bask in the delight of being a true hero, he watched the feline female pick up the knocked out straw blonde and leap towards the top of another building with the help of her fan.

Curious and wanting to also make sure his idiot classmate wasn’t too damaged… or at least not more damaged, he followed. When he arrived, he watched Kaminari slowly transform back into himself.

“I thought it would be best to let him come to in a space where his identity would not get out… or well… where others would automatically get angry at him.” You informed Bakugou. “Thanks for the help, by the way, you’re a great partner!”

Your supportive smile did little to make the male’s scowl go away, so he opted to ignore you and turn his attention back to Kaminari and how… despite the power of electricity, the fight was rather lackluster.

“Well… that was fucking easy…” Bakugou grumbled, seeing you get all shocked.

“Of course it was! This is the first enemy!” You stomped your foot. “They are only going to get harder from here, especially with the main villain learning and testing out his powers! So it means we need to get the missing jewel back before he gets stronger or smarter than us, ladybug!”

Bakugou’s eye twitched. Ladybug? What sort of lame name was that…? And what the hell were you talking about? Didn’t the butterfly gem do this to Kaminari? Shouldn’t the moron have it on him?

Maybe he really should have listened to the last of what that floating bug was trying to tell him?

Before he did, though, Kaminari started to come to once more. And the attention was turned towards him as he realized he was no longer in the museum's office. But rather… on some building with only foggy memories and feeling quite emotionally drained.

The blonde blinked a few times, seeming to come back to whatever reality he had been staying in for the past hour. As his vision cleared, he noticed two figures standing out before him. One of them with his arms crossed, looking rather irritated as he held a red frosted tip of his hair between his fingers. The other was kneeling down in front of him, holding out her hand.

“Are you okay?” She asked, the pair of black cat ears on her head being the first thing he spotted. “Feeling any better now with that butterfly no longer making you over emotional?”

“Huh? Butterfly…?” Kaminari blinked, not sure if his mind was hazy from whatever had just happened or because a girl dressed like a cat was in front of him.

“Looks like the idiot’s got brain damage…” The male in red sighed, looking at his ring. “I got one dot left… so according to the flying bug, I got to scram.”

The black cat nodded. “Right! I should get going as well. Don’t want anyone to find out who I am after all! Not even you, ladybug~”

“I’m not a damn ladybug for the last fucking time!” He shouted towards her.

“Then what are you?” She teased him back.

“A beetle!”

“Ladybugs are beetles!”

“I’m not a damn ladybug!”

The sounds of two beeping miraculous made both of you stop your petty argument, looking with worry and then knowing they had to go. Looking back towards Kaminari you rose a hand.

“I’ll take you back to where you started. Let’s hurry though! I only have two more minutes than the angry ladybug!” You took Kaminari’s hand into yours and helped him up.

“Stop fucking calling me that, you damn stray cat!” He yelled, making you look at him with a tired expression.

“So what should I call you then?” You asked him, watching him smirk.

“Call me Red Beetle!” He pointed towards himself. “The best fucking hero around!”

“My… how scandalous!” You laughed, the beetle realizing what he said as you started to leap away with Kaminari. “I’m Kuro by the way! Look forward to working with you more, beetle boy!”

He watched as the cat disappeared over the sides of the buildings, using that fan of hers to move with ease and create enough force to shoot herself upwards. His mind blank and only watching her go, hands shaking gently and chest tightening. Only when his ring hit the single dot did he finally come to and hurry to find a safe spot to transform back.

~~~~~

Bakugou walked into his room, being sure to shut the door behind him. Then ever so cautiously opened his school bag to allow the little ladybug spirit to roam about. Tikki zoomed out of the bag right away, looking around her new surroundings.

“You have a lovely room.” She spoke, getting comfortable on a pillow on his bed. 

“Here.” Bakugou spoke, pulling a cookie out of a bag he had purchased from the bakery down the street while Tikki slept in his bag on the way back.

Tikki’s eyes widened and she grabbed the pastry and happily started to munch on it. Bakugou watched her with a sneer, not believing his little magical fairy… thing… liked sweets. Though… so long as she kept letting him do the whole superhero thing, he’d let his parents think he had a cookie addiction for Tikki’s sake.

“Hey.” Bakugou spoke, sitting in his desk chair. “The cat mentioned seeing each other again… why would she?”

Tikki paused in her nibbling. “Well… as I was trying to tell you before you decided to jump straight into action… the butterfly miraculous is the reason this entire situation came to be… and since both you and the Cat Miraculous’ holder asked for myself and the black cat kwami’s help… we’ll be able to assist you both until you recover the butterfly miraculous. If that is what you want.”

Bakugou looked at her with a devilish smirk. “Hell yeah, I want to keep being a damn hero!”

Tikki zoomed up towards Bakugou. “Really? Oh, I’m so glad! That makes me very happy to hear! Now… will you at least let me fill you in a bit more on kwamis, your powers, and your enemy and also your ally?”

“The cat girl?” Bakugou blinked. “She’s sticking around too right? If she is… then she can be pretty helpful again… she literally nearly destroyed a city block earlier… fucking useful power she’s got.”

Tikki blinked, smiling gently. She had been around humans long enough to pick up on the little cues and giveaways they would give. And her newest holder was definitely starting to develop feelings towards the new holder of the destruction kwami.

“You really like that girl already, don’t you, Bakugou?” Tikki smiled, watching as horrified realization came across Bakugou’s face. Tikki’s smile going away as soon as she said it, having not expected that reaction at all.

It looked as if her newest holder would be the strangest yet… especially since he was seemingly trying to convince himself more than her that he did not have any sort of a crush. But… she knew his heart was in the right place, and would happily stay by his side.


	4. Some Big News And A New School

Ch.4 - Some Big News And A New School

The little creature inside your bag was making quite the scene, and you were quite thankful that no one else was around to witness the havoc that was occurring inside your new school bag. You looked down into your open school bag, having decided to go for a satchel bag inside of the usual backpack. Maybe it was growing up with archeologists and historians… or maybe it was because you liked the aesthetic.

Either way, you were rather upset that the little kwami inside was being such a rude little thing right now.

“Plagg… would you please not destroy my new school bag?” You asked him gently, seeing the little cat-like creature poke his head out of your bag.

“I told you, if I’m going to be dragged along to this ‘school experience’ you better pack me some cheese. And while I can smell that you did… I can’t seem to find it in this huge bag!” He declared before diving back into the bag.

You sighed, opening the insulated miniature pocket near your hip. The cheese for the day had been kept in there, and would also block the smell of the strong cheeses inside. Plagg apparently had a favorite, but being the little trickster he was… he wouldn’t tell you. Instead, he said that if you guessed and gave him the right flavor, he would answer any question you had.

Thus… your mother had witnessed you buying an entire sampling platter of cheese at the store yesterday. 

“Here.” You spoke, seeing the little cat poke his head out, green eyes widening as he saw the little piece of smelly cheese held out to him. “If you behave until lunch, I’ll give you two pieces.”

He gulped down the cheese in one bite, enjoying the taste. He turned to you, lighting up. “Well… you just gave me some camembert… so it means I will owe you an answer to whatever question you ask me. Though… I’ll be more talkative with three pieces of cheese.”

You rolled your eyes. “I’ve known you for three days… and already I feel the poor influence you are on me.”

“I call it a non-coddled point of view.” He spoke, only to watch your hand cover the top of him.

It seems your UA guide had arrived and now would be showing you around. Thus…. Plagg would be banished back into the very spacious bag. Oh well… if he got cheese out of it, he could make it last.

“Yo!” The blonde with a lighting bolt spoke, holding up a hand as he opened the UA gate to you. “Ready for your tour, potential new student?”

You straightened up, and relaxed seeing as Plagg was cooperating. Your head nodding quickly towards the male. Kaminari cracking a smile at this, it really was exactly as you had said… you were terrible at trying to talk to people your own age.

“Come on and relax, (Last Name)-chan!” Kaminari bumped your shoulder. “You got your scary dad off my back and I’m not in jail… so we’re chill. In fact, I’d call us friends!”

You smiled gently at the male. “Well… it was your idea to apply to UA for my last three years of being a legal child… so show me why I should make this place my alma mater!”

Kaminari gave you a blank look before cracking into chuckles. “You sure do hang out around adults… cause I’ve never heard anyone talk like you just did who’s sixteen.”

“Fifteen.” You corrected him. “I have a late birthday…”

Kaminari nodded, pointing towards the main building of UA. “Well let’s get the tour started then!”

You followed behind him as he started doing his best to go through the things he knew. You had known in advance that Kaminari might not be the most informative tour guide, but you really didn’t care much about the history or alumni of UA… you more so wanted to see the social life of UA.

And well, after having saved the former villainous blonde from the Akuma, you had managed to save him from your father. The man was too quick to jump the gun, and thus you had to be the voice of reason. And after an hour of you shooting down his accusations, your father finally resented and let Kaminari go.

Intrigued by your words and confidence… Aizawa had handed you a contact card. Kaminari immediately becoming buddy-buddy as well. And saying that if you did want a tour of UA, he’d make sure to show you around himself.

His boyish smile was enough to sway you to at least take a look. And thus, here you were now, getting shown everything from the cafeteria, to the library, to the lockers. By the time an hour had passed he had shown you everything but apparently saved you the best for last.

“So… right before lunch, the first years have a free period to study or do whatever. I usually catch an extra hour of sleep… but everyone else is usually lively and talkative and fun and-” He spoke as he started to open a door.

Your spine had a shiver run up it as you realized what he was about to do. But before you could call out to the rash male he had already swung the door open. You could feel your tongue swelling up with nervousness and then how dry your throat was. Your worst enemy was before you: sudden social situations.

“Hey, guys! Remember that tour guide from the museum! Well, she’s thinking of coming to UA!” He put his hand in front of his mouth as if trying to hide how next words from you… but very poorly. “So help me sell it guys! We have an extra desk after all!”

Like last time, it seemed you were rushed with kind and excited faces, all speaking to you at once. But unlike before, you were not prepared and could barely answer the questions.

“It’s okay… we know hanging out with Kaminari for too long can make anyone a little slow in the head.” A girl with a set of expensive headphones said, patting your shoulder.

“Jirou!” Kaminari angrily spoke back. 

Jirou laughed, sticking her tongue out at the male. It appeared he really didn’t want anyone harassing him or making him seem less cool in front of you.

“Was he chatting your ear off about these ‘ _ heroes _ ’ he swears saved him too?” A black-haired male asked, smiling widely towards you.

“No. He was very on the topic of the school.” You spoke, looking towards Kaminari. “What is this about heroes though?” 

Kaminari lit up, though several people in the class looked a bit tired. He must have been telling this story a lot today. But from the postures and emotions so openly shown to you, it appeared a third of the class believed him, a third didn’t, and the last third either wasn’t paying attention or unsure of what to think.

“I still have some foggy memories of what happened… but one minute I was thinking it was the end of everything and then suddenly had these powers that also fueled my anger… and then the next minute these two heroes are standing right before me!

Kuro was this cute cat girl! She has this cool torn and shiny looking chest armor design and then plain black armor running down her arms and legs. She’s also got these long black ribbons tied in her hair. She uses a fan to bring bad luck and destruction!   
  


Her partner was super cool too! She kept calling him a ladybug, but he was very stubborn about being called Red Beetle. Where Kuro is all destructive and brings bad luck, RB brings creation and good luck. They cancel each other out and were super cool!”

Kaminari turned to his classmates. “But hardly any of these guys think I’m being serious! Only Midoriya and Hagakure believe me! Meanwhile… Jirou keeps telling me to go see a doctor for the brain damage…”

Jirou shrugged. “You started shooting lighting and then suddenly were better after your little tantrum. Seems like you hit your head when whatever Mummy’s curse affected you from breaking the glass at that exhibit.”

Before Kaminari and Jirou could get into another fight about this though, the bell for lunch started to ring. Everyone started to file out into the usual groups. Many of the girls begging for you to join them, but it appeared Kaminari was still your babysitter, thus you would go with him.

“Anyway… this is Ashido, Kirishima, Sero and… oh… he’s gone.” Kaminari sighed as you walked out with his group of friends. “Well, not like its unexpected.”

You were curious about what he was talking about but was suddenly trapped in a conversation with the girl next to you. She had cotton candy dyed hair and was practically bouncing next to you.

“You can call me Mina!” She beamed. “I don’t mind at all.”

“How come you don’t let any of us call you by your first name?” Kirishima asked, a divide between a tease and general curiosity in his voice.

“It’s reserved for girls only.” Mina stuck her tongue out at the boys. “Sorry.”

“I feel discriminated against because I got a Y instead of an X.” Sero shook his head.

“Dude you know you can’t make science jokes… I'm hardly passing.” Kaminari shook his head, barely understanding that joke.

You smiled at the people around you. Watching them converse and talk among one another. They all seemed really nice and close… in fact, from the five minutes you had spoken to them, they all seemed nice.

Maybe you really could see yourself spending the next three years here. After all… UA was the best school in all of Japan, and those who went here… were the kind of people you strived to befriend. 

“Woah!” Kirishima suddenly called out, and your eyes widened as you realized what he warned you about too late.

So consumed by the thought of attending UA and possibly having these people become close friends, you had not been paying attention to where you were walking. For whatever reason you were a few inches ahead of the rest of them, looking backward as you walked… and thus had not noticed the staircase until too late.

Your center of gravity left you as you felt yourself start to begin the descent towards the rough stairs below. Maybe having the actual God of bad luck and destruction inside of your bag wasn’t the brightest idea. Or maybe you really just had shitty luck.

Unknowingly to you though, someone had the God of creation and good luck in his own bag. And had happened to be coming back up to the stairs to retrieve his notebook when you had started to fall. Reacting quickly, the ash-blonde managed to catch you right in the nick of time before you had an unfortunate accident.

You blinked, looking up to find yourself in the familiar arms of this stranger. His gaze was fixated on you as well, seeming to try and figure out how he knew you. Before either of you spoke though, the sounds of rushing feet came down the stairs.

“Good catch man!” Kirishima cheered, patting his friend’s back.

“Are you okay?” Mina asked you as she helped you up on your own two feet again.

“Oh.” Kaminari patted your shoulder. “That’s Bakugou by the way.”

“Not the time…” Sero sighed.

“How do I know you?” Bakugou suddenly asked you, getting a bit too close. “You some damn stalker?”

“U-uh! No! Tour! I’m here on a tour! And well, I’m here to see why UA is so great! And I guess I can add great reflexes to the reasons why!” You forced out a terrible laugh.

Bakugou snapped his fingers. “The stiffy museum girl! That’s why your mop looks so damn familiar.” 

He huffed, turning his back and heading back up the stairs. A few of his friends telling him he was being rude, and Kirishima apologizing for his bad behavior.

“Dude you hurt her feelings so much her face is red from embarrassment!” Kaminari called out, Bakugou gone and not caring much.

“You guys go ahead.” Mina told the boys. “I’ll make sure she’s okay.”

The boys all nodded, trusting Mina and her judgment. After another minute, they were all gone. And you had finally started to get your breathing down and your chest not beating rapidly. Mina only watched with a slight smirk on her lips.

“I know we just met but… can I be a bit blunt with you?” She spoke, seeing you look up at her and nod slowly.

Mina helped you back up onto your feet. “Bakugou’s a good guy underneath it all… so believe me when I say you don’t have a crush on a total asshole.”

Your face turned even redder after her words and Mina apologized profusely. She certainly had you pegged down easily. 

But even more… you realized that your crush on the ash blonde boy who had now caught you three times would only get better if he saw you more. Thus… it looked like you would indeed be taking that entrance exam after lunch as the principal had told you to if you wanted to attend UA.

But until then… you’d get to know Mina a bit more… especially since she already was supporting a crush you had been unsure of yourself.

Plus… she was nice.

  
  



	5. Another Situation and Working Together

Ch.5 - Another Situation and Working Together

The lunch table was quite the experience for you, seeing as you had never experienced so many strange conversations going so quickly from one to the other, nor how everyone seemed to just loudly talk or had no real sound logic to their arguments. You had always been surrounded by adults who would treat every discuss as if it was a do or die situation. So… it was interesting for you to listen to some less than important ones and share a chuckle or two along with the others who were sharing their silly thoughts on anything and everything in their mind.

“And all I’m saying is that American music was what inspired ours.” Kaminari was waving his finger back and forth.

“I’m not disagreeing with you over that, Kaminari!” Jirou slammed her hand against the table. “All I’m trying to get you to understand is that you can’t just give the Americans all the credit! British music from the same 1960-1980’s era helped shape our music just as much as American music during the same time!”

“Then what about the Aerosmith, the Grateful Dead, KISS, Metallica!” Kaminari yelled.

“I know! But you are leaving out the Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones! They inspired the music industry we see here just as much!” Jirou countered, Kaminari sinking into his seat.

“Pretty interesting, huh?” Mina poked your cheek.

You nodded. “Yes… I think I’ve learned more about music today at this table than ever.”

Mina laughed gently. “Well, Jirou is our resident music expert! Both her parents are musicians, so she for sure knows her stuff.”

“I’ll have to check some of these bands out myself then… they sound pretty interesting.” You spoke, the red-haired male next to you having his ears perked up at the mention of this.

“Wait! Have you never heard these guy’s music before?” Kirishima looked wide-eyed at you.

You shook your head. “I’ve heard of them, trust me on that. But with so much traveling, it’s hard to discover music. Plus… my mom has this weird superstition from back in her college days that the only music she can listen to while on exploration and excavation has to be classical music. Something about finding something old with old music playing… she’s a bit quirky.”

Kirishima and Mina chuckled lightly but stopped when they saw a shadow loom over you. You blinked, looking behind you to see someone had approached your lively table. The male standing behind looked rather ticked off, with an air of entitlement that could make anyone choke.

“Would you Class A stooges keep your voices down. My table can barely converse with all the useless chatter coming from your mouths…” The blonde-haired male sneered.

“Well… maybe if you asked us a bit nicer?” Sero tried his best to liven the mood a bit.

The mystery male before you snorted. “Nicer? I asked you as politely as I could for people who don’t deserve to stand in the light that Class B has.”

His eyes caught you, his cold gray eyes lighting up at seeing you. You looked back at him, face emotionless as you were not one to really like to stand by and sit silent as someone harasses people you considered nice.

“Oh… and who are you? Some poor General Studies student suckered into their fantasy land?” He looked like he was pitying you.

“No. I’m a potential student.” You spoke back to him, making a note to ask the others later what exactly General Studies was.

“Well… for your sake, I hope if you do end up in the Gifted Course, you end up in Class B.” He smirked, looking towards the girl with the headphones and the boy with the lightning bolt in his hair. “As for the two of you uncultured filth… the only music that matters is of the classical genre. Stop wasting your time and breath with such horrible sounds… especially you music prodigy. After all… Sonozaki produces much better opera singing than anything you could dream of singing…”

He turned on his heel and walked away a moment after that. The table falling silent, no one saying anything as their anger stewed a bit more. The only sounds that came next were the noise of someone slamming their lunch tray down.

“Fucking long ass line…” Bakugou grumbled, looking around the table at his classmates. “The hell crawled up all your asses?”

Kirishima sighed, watching as Jirou suddenly stood up and stormed off. Kaminari close behind her, telling her to slow down and not listen to what had just been said. Bakugou rose a brow, looking at Kirishima.

“Monoma…” Kirishima sighed.

“Asswipe talking shit again?” Bakugou growled. 

“When is he not?” Mina sighed. “This time he really let loose on us and in front of our guest too.”

“So… this Monoma guy is from Class B?” You spoke. “And what was he talking about? Gifted program? General Studies?”

“Oh…” Sero shrugged. “Guess you haven’t been told about UA’s class system?”

You shook your head. “Not at all.”

“UA is basically broken down into four different schooling programs.” Mina started, waving her finger around. “The Gifted Program, General Studies, STEM Studies, and finally Business Studies. Basically, when you take UA’s entrance exam, they compare your results with your application and determine where you would fit the most.

For those of us in Classes A and B… we are labeled as ‘Gifted’ meaning UA sees merit in our abilities outside of general academics and not in the fields of science or math. So… thus we’re labeled as ‘Gifted’”

“It’s basically a fancy word to say we’re more creatively minded than the others. STEM kids love inventing. Business kids love finances and economics. And then general studies are those who placed high enough in UA’s entrance exam… but didn’t stand out in character.” Kirishima elaborated.

“Oh… what exactly made you all get placed into the ‘Gifted’ program then?” You asked further, suddenly feeling a new pressure added on.

“In middle school, I had an art project that got nationally recognized. Who knew splatter paint could get so popular.” Mina laughed, still in disbelief herself.

“I got first place in a national martial arts competition… though all I did was punch… so I’m nowhere near an expert.” Kirishima breathed in slowly.

“Volunteer at a local nature preserve every chance I get.” Sero shrugged.

You looked to Bakugou, seeing him raise a brow at you staring at him.

“W-what about you, Bakugou?” Your voice stayed as steady as it could.

“Doesn’t matter. I can be the fucking best at anything and everything.” He shrugged and continued eating.

Everyone around you sighed, making you assume this sort of behavior was normal.

“The only thing is…” Sero continued on the topic. “Every general studies kid wants to get into the Gifted Program… cause when we graduate… every student in the Gifted Program receives a HUGE grant from UA to do whatever they want within reason to further their passions. To a lot of GS students, they want into the Gifted Program so they can keep following their passions. But it's hard with only forty seats each year.”

“I can see why… and now I might be taking one of their spots…” You muttered, rising from your seat. “I’m going to grab a drink.”

“D-Do you want me to come with you?” Mina asked, worried they had made you feel bad.

But you shook your head and carried on your own way to the vending machines you had seen earlier. Inside of your bag, something moved, you knew Plagg was wanting to speak. You undid the zipper a little to look at him.

“You okay, kid?” He asked, sending a poor mood coming from you.

“Yeah… just…” You breathed in. “Is it wrong for me to take the spot of someone who may have been dealt a poor result?”

Plagg shrugged. “Well… I don’t know those other kids… but if they are anything like cheese… then they each have their own merits! But some are sadly greater than others, like camembert! So… while everyone likes all sorts of cheeses, everyone has their favorites and will lean to that cheese when it matters. So I can’t tell you what kind of cheese this school prefers… but you won’t know if you’re the kind they like until you try, kid.”

You smiled gently, handing the small creature three pieces of cheese. “Thank you, Plagg. Enjoy a much-deserved snack.”

The kwami cried happily, diving back into your bag with his delights. “You are definitely the human equivalent of camembert to me, kid!”

You couldn’t contain another set of giggles that came from your mouth but soon found yourself stopping when the sounds of rushing feet were heard coming towards you. You glanced up in time to see a face running at full speed at you.

“Kaminari?” You asked, moving as he nearly crashed into you and had to pause to catch his breath. “What’s wrong?”

“Crap! We have to run, (Last Name)!” He called, grabbing your hand. “It’s happening again?!”

You stiffened as he tried to get you to move, looking at him in worry. “What are you talking about?”

Kaminari panicked, pushing you both into a small and hidden area underneath a staircase. He looked terrified, and you were worried that something was happening to him again involving controlling and producing electricity.

“J-Jirou was really upset at what Monoman said and I followed her to try and make her feel better. But she just kept getting angrier and angrier… and then… that black butterfly showed up again! 

I-I thought it was going for me and stupidly backed away. So I was too far away when I realized who it was really after… God, I’m such a fucking idiot!!

I put myself into a corner and couldn’t stop that damn cursed butterfly! I just watched it as it processed her! I stood there as it touched Jirou’s headphones and now she-she-”

He barely had time to finish his sentence, or rather you were unable to hear him when a sudden ear muting sound came from down the hallway. You and Kaminari instinctively covered your ears, the sound making your ears ring in pain.

In fear, you both watched as a girl with various speakers sewn on her attire made her way down the hallway, using a pair of long earphone jacks to create loud destructive sound waves.

“Crap…” You breathed, eyes falling onto something.

Within is second, you reached over and pulled the fire alarm. The flashing lights and spray of water were enough to not only distract Jirou and let you and Kaminari runoff, but also get the other students out before she could cause any massive destruction while they all were inside the school.

You and Kaminari took off, him seeming too occupied with the latest turn of events to notice when you dashed into the girl’s bathroom as he continued to an emergency exit. You checked the stalls quickly and once it was deemed clear, locked the door to the bathroom.

“Sorry, Plagg.” You spoke, seeing the kwami had yet to finish his meal from all the sudden excitement. “But I need your power for a little bit.”

“W-wait at least let me finish this-”

“Plagg! Transform me!”

~~~~~

Was one lunch without a headache too much for him to have? Apparently so since he was now exiting a broom closest at his school of all places with this stupid red frosted tips again. But apparently, someone was causing a mess, and from how his lunch table had been flipped over by soundwaves… he knew it was time to let Tikki out of his own bag and fight whoever was overemotional this time.

“Where is Monoma Neito?!” The villain screamed, sending a table flying as more students evacuated the cafeteria. “I want to make him see what not being able to hear anything ever again feels like!”

Bakugou acted quickly, using his own legs to kick away a table heading for a group of second years. Well… that shitty dunce face wanted to convince everyone Red Beetle was real… so here he fucking was.

The villain paused, looking at the male dressed in various reds and blacks. “And you must be one of the two people I’m supposed to take some jewels from…”

“That’s if you could even beat me, Ears…” Bakugou rolled his eyes.

“I’m Headphone Jack!” She screamed, sending a sound wave towards him.

Before he even considered dodging though, someone did it for him. The mystery savior and him rolling on the polished tile flooring until he stopped and could see who was there. His heart thumped when he noticed a black cat hovering over him.

“You good?” She asked, offering him a hand.

Bakugou pushed it aside, getting up himself. “I told you last time… I don’t need your damn help.”

You were shocked by his refusal for help still. Did he forget it was you and Plagg’s destructive power that got Kaminari cornered enough for him to purify the object and free the Akuma?

“C-Come on Red Beetle!” You followed after him as he started making a mad dash towards Jirou’s akumatized form.

Red Beetle jumped forward, striking Jirou with a rather rough punch to her side, but she was quickly back up and aiming for RB while you stood around watching. Was he really not going to let you in on his plan as you both were supposed to be doing?

Well… then you might as well might it two on one.

You joined in soon enough, trying to knock Jirou off her feet as Bakugou was aiming to put her out of commission. Seeing as the pair of you were attacking on your own and only paying mind to her, Jirou smirked.

So as Beetle threw a punch and you attempted to swipe her off her feet, the now agile music lover jumped high into the air. And now out of reach of both your attacks, she watched the outcome. Your swipe making Beetle fall onto his face, and your chest getting hit with quite the powerful punch.

“I said to get fucking lost!” He screamed at you, face red from messing up so badly.

Why did he care though? It was you who got in the way… so you should be embarrassed not him!

He couldn’t think more about his strange feelings, as Headphone Jack returned. One of her headphones connecting with a speaker on her leg. She smirked at the two heroes who were still down and trying to move past their pain. Suddenly a purple butterfly outline appeared over her eyes. 

“Yes, Monarch… I know. But you promised to let me take out my own enemy first.” She smirked. “So until I deal with him… I’ll make sure to send these two under a pile of rubble!”

“Monarch…?” You breathed out slowly, the name strange to you.

Was this… who took the purple miraculous and who currently was turning people into these superpowered, and anger filled beings? 

You couldn’t focus on that right now though, as suddenly the mask was gone and Jirou was preparing her attack. Neither you or Red Beetle were able to stand at this moment and thus could only allow your hands to fly up to your ears to hopefully prevent yourselves from going deaf.

“Out of my way!!” She screamed, another burst of sound throwing the two heroes from their positions.

You knew you collided with a wall next, and then suddenly had ended up in a strange pile of concrete, glass, and your supposed partner. As you laid there you realized how this was not working at all, rather… how because of his insistence to work alone and how you were not the type to lead… you both were messing up quite a lot.

“This isn’t fucking working!” He screamed, looking at you with a death glare.

“It’s not my fault!” You shot back. “My kwami said we’re supposed to be partners! Each of us is one half of a whole!”

Red Beetle clicked his tongue, turning back to where he could see sound waves echoing further down campus. He needed to do something quick… because if he didn’t his own school of all places would be turned into dust.

“Hey.” The annoying cat girl spoke, making him turn to her. “You are the leader type, aren’t you?”

“What the hell do you think, stupid cat?” He growled, looked ready to jump off towards the fight.

As he was about to do so, you grabbed him, making him stop and look at you. He was beyond angry now, knowing he needed to stop another one of his overly emotional classmates before it was too late. And here was this girl stopping him.

“I’m better at following someone’s lead!” You spoke a fire behind your eyes, making him see you wanted to help save the day as much as he did. “So… if you don’t see me yet as an equal… then at least see me at someone who will trust your word Beetle!”

He looked at Kuro dumbfounded. Was she really so desperate to work with him that she would request downgrading herself from the title she wanted alongside him to a mere petty sidekick?

His heart thumped.

She seemed to at least have some sort of hero like makings… not as many as he clearly did, but enough for him to now realize and trust that she could and would do all in her power to help him. She may not be his equal… but she would at least have his back.

“Fine then.” He spoke, turning his back to her, feeling his heart accelerate. “Listen to what I say and do exactly that… and maybe we can actually use some of that teamwork shit you’ve been yapping about.”

You nodded. “You got it, Red.”

And with that simple understanding and agreement made between the pair of you, the two heroes leaped off towards where the sounds of battle were occurring.


	6. Hero Debuts and Important Questions

Ch.6 - Hero Debuts and Important Questions

  
  


“You understand then?” Red Beetle told you, watching as you nodded along.

He had spent the last ten minutes huddled in a small area talking over what he was planning to do and what role you would play in it. And while you were not so keen on only being seen as a sidekick to him when you wanted to be his equal, you had a feeling that Red Beetle was the type who would need to be able to see he could trust and rely on you. And so, you had decided to give him more than enough of a reason to do that exact thing.

So with a plan in mind, and a possible future classmate of yours being turned into another one of these strange villains, you put RB’s plan into action. As he charged Jirou directly from where she was starting to cause all sorts of havoc in the middle of the courtyard at UA, you went to where you needed to go.

“Look who came back for a fight…” Jirou smirked, sending a blast of sound waves towards Red Beetle who easily dodged it.

Jirou followed after him, trying to copy his movements and close the gap between them. Red Beetle was fast though, and while Jirou now had new abilities, her physical abilities, such as running, were still a bit subpar. Thus, she was struggling to keep up.

Red Beetle smirked, turning to face the villain. “What? Too tired that you can’t even make some noise at me? Pathetic… the last guy was way stronger, and I beat him within twenty minutes!”

Jirou grit her teeth, getting up from where she had been heaving and looked towards the annoying male. One of her ear jacks plugging into a stereo on her attire. Red Beetle braced for impact, knowing he was exactly where he needed to be right now.

“Enjoy not being able to hear anything ever again! Ultra blast!” Jirou shouted, stereos pumping loudly and ready to emit.

Red Beetle smirked. “Did you forget I’m not your only enemy?”

Jirou looked at him confused for a moment, then her eyes widened as she started to look around herself for the black cat girl, only to not see a single sign of her. Turning back to Red Beetle, she sneered.

“Looks like your partner left you!”

Red Beetle chuckled. “Partner? She’s just a sidekick who hopefully is a little bit useful…”

Jirou looked at him in more confusion, but it didn’t last long, as suddenly she was being soaked from head to toe with what seemed to be an endless stream of water. A little ways away stood Kuro, who was using a red and black hose to direct a line of water towards the villain.

After about thirty seconds of continuous water from the fountain on UA’s courtyard, the emergency shut off switch kicked on. The water ended, and Kuro looked down at her necklace to see that her countdown was starting to dwindle since using her cataclysm to break into the water pipes of the fountain.

“Ugh! Why you stupid cat!” Jirou roared, attaching another jack to her suit and charging up the power once more. “You’re both going deaf!”

Kuro twirled her belt tail, a wide smile on her face when Jirou realized what had happened. In the constant spray of water… the stereos on her outfit had been drowned out, making it so no sound could come out of them… thus, she was basically powerless.

“Now don’t forget about me!” Red Beetle screamed, charging forward while Jirou had been in shock, snatching her earphones from her head. 

Before Jirou could even react, Red Beetle threw them onto the ground with all he had, which was a lot of force in his superpowered form. The headphones cracked right away, Jirou falling towards her knees suddenly. In the next moment, a black butterfly escaped from the headset, trying to escape from the pair of heroes watching it with intentions to purify it.

Unluckily for the butterfly, Red Beetle had yet to use his purification grenade, and with a simple pulling of the pin, had sent his red and white light to cleanse the little butterfly and also free both the bug and the human it had possessed from further evil doing.

Red Beetle sighed, seeing as he had made it down to the last minute now. His ring showing one final dot. He nodded to himself, while he had done most of the heavy lifting, he’d admit that Kuro actually followed through on his sudden plan… maybe she was a little useful after all.

The rapid thumping of his heart from simply thinking about her sure seemed to confirm it.

“Nice plan!” Kuro spun over towards him. “You’re a pretty smart guy, RB! I thought for sure when your Lucky Charm turned into a hose we were screwed… but you’re clever.”

“You can follow orders well… so I guess you can stick around if you continue being useful to me.” Red Beetle scoffed, making Kuro laugh.

“Wow! Have I been promoted from helper to an official sidekick? You’re too kind, Mr.Full of Himself!” Kuro giggled, Red Beetle trying to slap her shoulder, but missing due to her quick reflexes.

As the two argued and messed around with one another in the aftermath of battle, Jirou started to come to her senses once more… now luckily back to her normal self and trying to recall how she had gotten here… and why some parts of her memory were very foggy.

“What… happened to me?” The punk girl spoke, looking around to see two teens dressed in strange outfits and emitting a mysterious and magical aura from them. 

Jirou’s jaw dropped, as she had heard countless times that morning who exactly these two were… but couldn’t help but think she was hallucinating once more. After all… Kaminari’s strange belief that superheroes were real and out in the world seemed very far fetched, but now seeing that these two were in front of her… things started to make a bit more sense.

“Holy shit….” She breathed, catching the attention of both heroes who had been playfully bickering, or rather one was while the other looked serious. “That idiot wasn’t lying!”

Kuro beamed, reaching a hand out. “Hey there! Feeling calmer? You certainly look a lot more like yourself now too.”

Jirou’s eyes widened. “You know who I am?!”

Red Beetle looked towards his feline female companion, Kuro laughing a bit. 

“Of course! You all were at the museum when we came to save the boy who got akumatized before. We’re guardians sworn to protect this world from evil, but had been locked away in that display case for a while… had Kaminari not broken it by accident, who knows what could have happened.”

Red Beetle rose a brow. That was clearly not the actual story, nor were there any large chunks of truth in it, but rather small little pieces. And yet, he couldn’t help but follow along with Kuro’s growing lie. After all… Tikki had said all those jewels were magic, so it was best to create a lie from causing more people to seek to take the magic jewels. Thus… Kuro was right in lying.

“Our jewels got mixed up in the bunch of useless duds… so it really was pure dumb luck that we were freed.” He spoke, looking off to the side to see more students starting to come out from where they had been hiding and watching the fight.

“No way… real-life superheroes.” Midoriya muttered, dashing away from where Uraraka and Iida were still watching with hesitant eyes. 

Soon enough, the green-haired male was before both Kuro and Red Beetle, pulling out a notebook and looking with eager eyes towards the pair. Kuro seemed to be happy to talk, though Midoriya could tell Red Beetle was a bit more… aggressively hesitant.

“Who are you two?! Where did you come from?! Why does this keep happening?!” Midoriya started to ramble off question after question, causing the duo to look at him with a sense of overwhelmingness.

Lucky for Red Beetle, a ringing from his ring made Midoriya stop talking before the ash-blonde with the scarlet frosted tips could call him a certain nickname and possibly give away his identity. Despite Tikki saying how the miraculous creates a magic shield that leaves people unable to make connections between him and his civilian counterpart… saying something that would associate your two identities would break it.

So calling Midoriya ‘Deku’ in a rage would for sure break his secret identity quick.

“I’m out.” Bakugou spoke, jumping away and out of sight a moment later, unaware that several students had caught him leaving on video camera, now leaving Kuro to take the spotlight all for herself.

“Why was his ring buzzing?” Midoriya asked, seeing more people coming forward to record Midorya’s sudden interview with one of their saviors.

Kuro smiled brightly, pointing to her own necklace. “Basically we have five minutes after we use our special power before our powers need a break. After that… we transform into people who blend into your society. But… don’t think I’ll reveal who our civilian identities are! After all, that’s no fun!”

“And who are you both as heroes then?” Midoriya pressed on, seeing Kuro had about three more minutes left to talk before she would take off.

Kuro shook her head. “How about I just quickly give you a bunch of answers for questions I’m sure you have.”

Midoriya nodded eagerly and Kuro began her final little speech for the day.

“I’m Kuro! The black cat of bad luck and destruction! He’s Red Beetle! The Beetle of good luck and creation! Together, we intend to find the missing purple miraculous that has been causing harm!

We found out today that the human who has been using it is calling themselves Monarch. The purple miraculous is symbolized as a butterfly and has the power of generosity… but right now, its generosity that tempts people in low points.

So… while friends, peers, and family members might get akumatized by black butterflies, it's not their fault… as it’s Monarch who’s targeting them when they are already down. But have no fear! Kuro and Red Beetle will make sure that everything goes well!

It's our job as the guardians and the protectors of Earth! Now… I should get going, but should Monarch harm anyone or target anyone else, we’ll be there to help!”

Kuro was gone a moment later, using her fan to propel herself away. Midoriya watched with sparkling eyes, asking those around him who recorded the interview to send it to him… as he was sure this would not be the only time he’d want to speak to them or see them in the aftermath of a battle.

~~~~~

Bakugou pitched his temple, the Tikki next to him happily enjoying the cookie he had bought for her from the vending machine. Currently, the holder and kwami were in an empty club room, waiting for things to calm down before he ventured out again.

“Are you okay?” Tikki asked, sensing something brooding underneath her holder’s surface. “Are you still questioning your feelings for Kuro? You don’t need to be ashamed of them, it’s only natural for humans to develop feelings for those they admire-”

“It’s not the damn catgirl!” Bakugou shouted, Tikki not even flinching and instead swallowing the rest of her cookie.

“What is it then, Bakugou?” She asked, hovering over to him once more.

Bakugou huffed. “This entire thing is still a damn mystery to me… I want to know more about you and miraculous and all this shit before I do anymore…”

Tikki nodded to him slowly. “I understand and I have the perfect place for you to learn more!”

Bakugou looked at his kwami with widening eyes, a part of him becoming a bit more excited once more knowing that soon… he’d have his answers. And maybe, a better understanding of his powers and the jewel and magical being they came from.


	7. Museum Visit and Sudden Bonding

Ch.7 - Museum Visit and Sudden Bonding

If there was anywhere he really didn’t really see himself to spend a Saturday, it was at the local museum. Seeing as the last time he was here was the starting point of this little sudden adventure he had been put on… it certainly made this visit seem like nothing would compare to his last. But then again… this is where the red kwami had told him to go when he asked about finding out more about these powers and what exactly Tikki was.

“One ticket.” Bakugou told the employee at the counter who asked for his 1000 yen payment before allowing him in. 

Right from the start, there looked to be a lot more security than last time. He could guess why quite easily. In fact, he would guess that the case around the miraculous now was a lot more guarded as well.

“Where the hell do I go now?” Bakugou grumbled, sitting down at a bench and tying his shoes.

Tikki unzipped the backpack she was resting in a little, peeking out to at least see her current holder and also be able to speak with him while attracting barely any intention. And to make sure Bakugou didn’t look crazy, the ash-blonde had kept his airpods in, making it seem as if he might be on a call since no one was around him. Her holder certainly was smart.

“You’re going to need to go back to the original exhibit! The grimoire is there!” Tikki told him, Bakugou’s face scrunching up.

“Grimoire?” He spoke, never having heard that word before.

“It’s a fancy word for a spellbook.” 

Tikki and Bakugou blinked, as neither of them had spoken, but rather someone who had approached them. Hair tied into a professional look, and wearing a pantsuit to look the part of a museum guide was none other than that girl who was trying to get into UA.

Tikki sunk down a little bit into the bag, making sure the female couldn’t see her. As the kwami did so, Bakugou took his airpods out, looking towards the familiar female. A name coming to mind after a minute of him thinking about it.

“Oi, that’s right… you work here.” He snapped his fingers and you nodded.

“Yup! Best part-time job a fifteen-year-old could ask for!” You flashed him a smile. “Though I’m surprised to see you here, Bakugou. I was sure no one from your class would want to come back after what happened last time…”

Bakugou shrugged, making up a lie on the spot. He usually wasn’t one to lie, as he didn’t like to do it. But seeing as he had a secret identity to keep now… he needed to do so and make sure no one caught onto him.

Especially now that Monarch had pretty much declared war against him and Kuro for their miraculous.

“Well… I never got to finish the fucking tour… and we have a paper due on this on Monday. So I came to make sure I get a Goddamn A.” He shrugged, seeing as that wasn’t a total lie.

“Oh.” You blinked. “Guess it's a good thing I’m still waiting to hear back on my exam results then. Looks like I won’t have to write that paper.”

Bakugou didn’t say anything else, instead grabbing his bag and putting it on before wandering towards a sign that was leading towards the exhibit. You watched him go, heart-thumping slightly.

With the question of UA still in the air, you didn’t know how many opportunities you’d have to see this ash-blonde boy again, thus you decided to follow after him and see if you could maybe find a way to squirm into his little self-tour.

“Oh! Hold on Bakugou!” You shouted, running to catch up with him. “Do you want a guide?”

“I’m not paying.” He shot back, making you inhale sharply at his original idea of why you wanted to tag along with him.

Well… it was better than him thinking or figuring out you had a massive crush on him.

“W-wha-? No no!” You waved your hands back and forth, making him finally stop his powerful stride and look at you. “I was going to show you around for free. It's my lunch break… and I’m not really hungry today… so I might as well put my knowledge to good use and give you some good information on your paper!”

Bakugou rose a suspicious brow at you. “You serious? And why the hell would you show me around?”

You gulped, collecting yourself before speaking again. Not only were you speaking to a boy you had developed a sudden crush on, but one who was your age… and you knew how you were around people your age.

“No catch or anything you think it might be.” You assured him. “I just want to try and make relations to people who might be my classmates come Monday. Plus… it is my job to talk about everything here, I would be doing you a disservice by not talking your ear off.”

You pulled on a smirk, walking away and motioned for Bakugou to follow you. Bakugou watched as you did, feeling his chest thump slightly. What was wrong with him lately? First Kuro and now the Museum Girl? Was his girl obsessed stage kicking in right now or something?

“Bakugou hurry!” Tikki whispered to him. “(Name)’s waiting for you! Don’t keep her waiting!”

“Right…” He grumbled, moving to catch up with you.

He found you soon, seeing as you were waiting for him outside the room to the Chinese jewels. A large red roped barricade was blocking the way, and two guards were standing out before it. It looks like they were not letting anyone in.

“Do you both mind if I go in and finish my private tour?” You asked the guards. “I know the exhibit is temporarily closed due to what happened last week… but this man’s parents paid the museum a large donation… and they’ll be upset if he doesn’t see every inch.”

The guards exchanged glances with one another, not sure if they should listen to the museum curator’s daughter on this. After all, the boy she was with looked more like a delinquent than the son of some rich family.

You internally sighed, seeing as your usual tactics to getting access to the closed areas would need to be raised to a seven rather than the usual six. Crossing your arms and tapping your foot, something you had learned from your mother, you looked back at the guards with an annoyed and impatient look.

“Or… if you would prefer, I can go to my superiors and let them know that the guards are not listening. I’m sure my father would love that, especially since this boy’s parents pay his paycheck, so if anything happens to his paycheck or the reputation of the museum… he’ll be seeing if your employment here is truly a good fit…”

The guards gulped, moving aside and ushering you and Bakugou inside. Soon enough the curtain they had moved was closed and it was just you and Bakugou inside the large exhibit hall. 

You chuckled softly, spinning around excitedly and turning towards him. Bakugou looked back at you, seeming slightly impressed by your skills. Sure you had lied… but then again, you were the museum curator and owner’s daughter, so why were the guards not letting you in? They kinda deserved it a little bit.

“That was quite the tale.” He spoke, passing by a now-empty display case.

The glass has been cleaned up and the miraculous removed, thus only leaving a shell of what had once been. He didn’t focus on it long, seeing as you were moving to other parts of the exhibit, specifically a large book under another case.

“Sometimes the guards look down on me ‘cause I’m not seen as an adult to them… so, it's frustrating. Plus… my mom says it's okay to do so long as it’s for a good reason.” You spoke, taking out an ID card from the pocket of your suit.

You scanned it on some device near the display case, and after a moment the machine beeped. Then, the red color around the glass turned blue. You smiled, lifting the case and taking the grimoire from it.

“Here we are.” You spoke, motioning for Bakugou to follow you. “We can’t view it here though. So follow me to the Special Collections Room!”

“This entire museum seems like one damn hoop to jump through after another…” Bakugou scoffed, making you laugh.

“We have to be cautious, especially since we don’t want to damage anything here.” You paused. “...Or lose them…”

Bakugou didn’t say anything, not sure what he could say. It was clear it was bothering you, but then again he didn’t know you. So… what could he say to make you feel better? So… if anything, he would at least distract you with what he needed to see inside this book.

After washing his hands thoroughly and putting on a pair of gloves, plus an annoying instruction video of how to handle ancient artifacts, he was finally allowed into the Special Collections Room and was slowly opening the book.

Right away his eyes were greeted with the image of a female of Asian origin, clad in red and black, showing off a miraculous. On her other side was a male of similar origin, dressed in all black with some cat-like features, this time holding onto a black miraculous.

Bakugou looked at the page, unable to read the text. Now he wished he had taken that Chinese elective like the Four Eyes and Ponytail had… but the drums had called his name.

“It says that the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous were the first ones created, and each are the most powerful when combined, but still immensely powerful when separated.” You told him.

“You can read it?” He spoke, watching as you nodded.

“I speak a little of most languages, but having spent the last five years in China helped me learn Mandarin.” You shrugged, pointing back to the book. “So… what else do you want me to translate for you?”

“I can get the gist of some of it…” Bakugou muttered, realizing the characters in Chinese were quite similar to the ones in Japanese. “But… it's ancient as hell… so it's hard to understand the damn context.”

“Well, it's a good thing I tagged along.” You gave him a cheeky smile, seeing as you were growing more comfortable with him little by little. “So, how about you let me do all the talking and when you have enough for your paper, let me know!”

“Easy for me then, know-it-all.” He rolled his eyes, a bit upset from all the happiness you were spilling.

“H-hey…” You stuttered, pushing two of your fingers together. “I’m skipping lunch to help you out, you could at least pretend to enjoy my company.

As it turns out… your way of dealing with being alone with your crush was to tease him and make yourself seem like the innocent party. And while you knew your words were not exactly true, you couldn’t help but crave his attention.

“Hold on a damn minute! You fucking told me you were not hungry!” He called your bluff and you laughed awkwardly.

“Yeah… I did say that didn’t I?” You chuckled, then turned back to the grimoire. “Now come on, let’s get you all your answers so I can eat my lunch before my next tour arrives in another hour and a half-ish.

Bakugou didn’t say anything for the remaining time he was there and writing down all the information he needed on miraculous, origins, holders, lore and history. And while he was focused, by the time he was leaving and you were heading to break… he had something else on his mind.

It was clear from this little hour session he had with you how gifted and capable you were when it came to history and the preservation of artifacts. Something that was rare among people, especially people his age.

And from how seriously you took it and the eagerness you spoke with about everything and anything related to it… he came to one conclusion.

That UA would make a big fucking mistake come Monday if that empty desk in Class 1-A wasn’t occupied by you.

But then again… he never paid much attention to those around him. So, maybe he was giving you more credit than you needed because you were giving him the exact information he was seeking.

But either way...he knew he got what he needed. And now, no longer had an excuse to return to that museum until the job was done and it was time to return Tikki once all was said and done.


	8. New Student and Old Jealousy

Ch.8 - New Student and Old Jealousy 

  
  


Mondays were usually a fall back into the mundane schedule for the week, and so no one in Class 1-A really wanted or knew that they were about to be greeted with a sudden break of pace during their Monday morning.

Aizawa slowly walked in, but unlike most occasions, he wasn’t alone this time. Rather, a familiar-looking female accompanied him, wearing a new UA uniform and looking out towards the faces of her new classmates.

“We have a new student, though introductions are not needed since you all seem to already know her.” Aizawa spoke, motioning for you to take the empty seat.

The row nearest to the window and the second to last seat. Between Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, a perfect seat for you to gaze off during boring lectures or to sit warmly or coolly thanks to the windows near you.

Aizawa went over homeroom as usual, but could tell his students were a bit giddy that you had arrived, thus, he rushed a few of the last announcements, ending the homeroom ten minutes early so his students would have a chance to talk to you and also get out of their system the excitement of having a new face in the room.

“Yamada-sensei’s class starts in fifteen minutes… so be done conversing by the time he gets here.” Aizawa spoke, heading out the door. “Especially since he’s as distractible as some of you…”

With the sound of the door closing, everyone pounced on you. Some happily congratulating you on joining the gifted program, others saying how excited they were to have you join their class. You couldn’t help but smile and try your best to not be terribly awkward. And by the time those fifteen minutes had passed, you couldn’t help but feel like this was a start of something phenomenal.

But… for every little piece of happiness someone else had, there was another or a group of others who were less than happy with the results. Especially with those who attended UA… seeing as there was definitely a hierarchy.

And you came to have your first taste of it when lunch rolled around once more. This time, rather than happily making your way out with barely any hallway traffic… there was a blockage in the hallway, making Class 1-A unable to leave.

“They sure come fast…” Jirou commented, eyeing her peers.

“What’s happening?” You asked her, seeing Jirou sigh.

“This happens every year apparently… every time a new gifted program class arrives, the general studies body comes to see what talents that UA deemed worthy and see if they think it's worthy or not.”

“Most of the time… the general studies students convince themselves that they were jipped a spot, and come to harass us a little bit.” Kaminari sighed. “But, lucky for us, we have Bakugou… so our first day wasn’t terrible since they were all terrified to challenge him.”

“Don’t worry though.” Mina placed a hand on your shoulder. “Just because you’re the only new gifted student doesn’t mean we’re going to ditch you. Just follow us and don’t give them any time of day.”

You nodded slowly, but something in you couldn’t help but start to feel a bit guilty. And with how bad the tensions between the general studies and gifted program were becoming more and more clear… you were not sure if pretending they were not there would really be the best course of action here.

But… you didn’t know this school. But Mina and everyone did, thus, you decided to bite the butt of your own worry and follow their lead. 

The general studies students started to part ways as more and more of Class A left, but upon seeing the face of someone they hadn’t see before, they started to crowd around you further, and they also started to talk. You hung close to Mina who was trying to lead you out and could sense Kaminari keeping close to your backside as well, making sure that if anything did go down, you’d at least be protected.

“So you’re the one who stole our spot?!” Someone in the crowd cried out.

“She didn’t even go to UA before this… must be from some family that got her in…” Someone whispered as you passed by.

“What marvelous talent does she even have? She looks nauseous just walking by us.” A group of them laughed.

You gulped. It was true… the sheer amount of eyes on you and people talking about you in such negative ways was becoming so much more overwhelming then it should. But… you were not a social butterfly, and so this situation was already out of logical reasoning for you.

You gripped your school bag tightly with your hands, trying to not focus on the mummers, calls, and laughter around you, all trying to take you down a few pegs. So consumed by the sounds of peer ostracization that the sound of flapping wings were drowned out by the noise.

“All of you need to SHUT UP!” Jirou screamed, silencing the crowd.

Your nerves dissolved away with the medicine of silence now around you and you started to breathe easy once more. The punk girl wasn’t done yet either, instead coming forward and pointing towards the crowd of hecklers.

“She hasn’t even been here a day and you all are already taking up all sorts of rumors and ridiculous lies in order to try and put her down and not wake up to the reality that some people are just naturally more skilled in a craft than you! Or better yet… put more time and effort into perfecting their skills to be accepted into this program!”

The students all took a step back from her, formerly sneering faces now ones of worry and fear as Jirou spoke with a rage. Jirou blinked, seeing as it appeared her new stigma was present among the others.

“Careful everyone… she might end up acting like a monster again if we’re not careful.” Someone from the crowd laughed.

“The gifted students think they're so great! But… haven’t two of them turned evil? Wow! UA has made some great choices on their gifted students!” Another shouted.

“Come on…” Kaminari pulled you and Jirou forward. “We don’t have to take this shit from them… especially when they don’t know what it's like to be in this position.”

You blinked, unsure if he was talking about being akumatized or ostracized by your peers because they refused to even get to know you. But you carried on, not saying a word to the massive angry crowd.

“So… none of you are even going to acknowledge how we feel then?” Someone spoke, pushing his way through the crowd. “Only that we should try to understand yours?”

A male with wild purple hair and deep tired violet hues looked at the four of you. His lips in a thin frown and hands stuffed into his pockets. His presence just seems to further challenge how things were at UA.

“Dude… we only want to eat lunch.” Kaminari spoke, but the male sighed.

“Well… we only want to understand why all our efforts these past months were pushed aside because someone who signed up late… decided she wanted to go to UA.” 

You couldn’t take it anymore, and with a gentle shove, made your way in front of the crowd. Your eyes were fierce, having reached your breaking point, and was masking your terrified state and this nightmare social situation with anger towards people you didn’t know and who didn’t know you.

And thus… you made your first impression.

“I was determined to be worthy of the Gifted Program! I deserve to go here as much as everyone else… so don’t take your petty complaints and jealousies you have towards UA out on me.

After all… if this is how you all really act… then it makes sense why none of you are in the Gifted Program. Now… get out of our way and leave us alone.”

The crowds parted, but the sneers only got worse. You couldn’t care now… only wanting to get past this annoying moment in what was before a great first day at the high school you had dreamed of going to and forming memories at.

“Holy Hell…” Kaminari laughed beside you once the crowd was gone and the four of you were home free to the cafeteria. “I’ll make sure to never get on your bad side.”

“Yeah…” You nodded, another weight falling deeply inside of you from the behavior you had just shown to those who were around you. Behavior… you didn’t want to associate yourself with but now might have permanently done so.

~~~~~

You sat down at the lunch table with a small huff, the others around you turning to look at you. It seemed the class was sticking together today thanks to what had happened before lunch. So, everyone was in a small five table group.

“Are you okay?” Yaoyorozu asked you from where she sat at your table among Jirou, Tooru, and Mina.

“Yeah… I just feel bad about what I said…” You sighed again.

“Why? The general studies kids were harassing you! You had every right to blow up at them!” Jirou looked to still be a bit upset about what they had commented about her as well.

“I agree with Kyouka.” Mina nodded. “They deserved to be put into their place.”

“But I didn’t do that… I pretty much stooped to their level.” You started to stuff food into your mouth.

“I’m sure it's not as bad as you think…” Yaoyorozu attempted to cheer you up. “There are just… a lot of tensions among the Gifted and General studies.”

You nodded, everyone around you sensing that you wanted to move away from this topic… luckily it seemed Tooru had spotted something that made everyone attention follow her outstretched finger when she cried out.

“WOW! Look at that!”

Sure enough, everyone was greeted with the sight of a few non-gifted course peers forcefully taking a yelling and panicked Monoma out of the cafeteria. You blinked, thinking how unusual that was, and as you looked around more… you started to notice more strange things.

Where… was all of Class B?

“Hey! Let me go!” Mina suddenly called from beside you.

As you looked over to her, you felt numerous hands start to grab you as well. Mina, Yaoyorozu, Tooru, Jirou and yourself were all being forced upwards by the peers around you. And from the sounds of it, a lot of your classmates were in the same boat.

“Hey! Personal space!” Kirishima yelled, trying to break out of the hold of several people.

Yet as he struggled, more people came to hold him down. Even Bakugou and Iida were struggling to get the students off them and they were quite strong peers. You blinked, taking a lot at your sudden captors, noticing a striking feature on them all.

A strange glowing purple eye on their foreheads and eyes looking to be glazed over and sleepy, as if the students were taking these strange actions while sleepwalking. You bit your lip, knowing that Kuro was needed in this situation… but your bag with the kwami was left behind, and you were being taken down the same hallway as the others.

Similarly, Bakugou was feeling the same way, knowing this situation was not good at all. Red Beetle couldn’t show up if he was captured and away from Tikki… nor would he risk transforming in public.

Both your and Bakugou’s thoughts were cut short as suddenly the students forcing you and your classmates down the halls all spoke at once, in a spine-tingling monotone voice.

“Everyone will be equal soon… he will make sure of it.”

You narrowed your eyes, knowing that at this current moment, you’d have to use your keen eyes and quick wit to find a way out of this. And hopefully soon… because if you didn’t you had a very bad feeling that you’d soon be a part of this hive mind like everyone else was slowly starting to become part of as well.

  
  
  
  



	9. Like-Mindedness and Total Opposites

Ch.9 - Like-Mindedness and Total Opposites

Eventually, it seemed everyone taken was brought into the large UA library. Suddenly, everyone stopped walking and turned to look towards what could only be seen as a stage made out of desks and chairs.

You watched intently, knowing this was your chance to learn what was going on and then find a way to make your escape. On the makeshift stage, you saw Monoma Neito, the boy who had made Jirou turn into an akuma victim last time. He was being held down by two people and was on his knees.

“Sonozaki! Kendou!” He shouted towards the two females. “Release me at once! This isn’t funny!”

“He’s here to make us all equal. No one will feel neglected or unseen soon.” The girls spoke in unison, voices dipped in a monotone that didn’t waver at all.

“He’s here to make us all equal. No one will feel neglected or unseen soon.” The entire crowd echoed and you couldn’t help but gulp. 

It appeared as if… they were being controlled by a puppet master of sorts.

Slowly, the puppet master revealed himself. Nothing more than a dark purple cape covering him. When he approached Monoma, he gently pulled the hood off, revealing the face of that boy from General Studies… only he looked much paler, and had what looked to be a mask over his face.

“Your arrogance stems from this world making you think you’re better than others.” The villain spoke, coming towards Monoma. “Now… allow me to make you equal to everyone else.”

Monoma chuckled. “And how do you think you’ll be able to do tha-”

Monoma suddenly stopped his words, head sinking down slowly for a moment. The girls holding him letting him go as he slowly stood back up. The same dead eyed and purple tint in his eyes as everyone else around here had.

“Now all that remains is Class A.” He turned to the crowd. “Who wishes to be the first converted? The first to see reason and true equality?”

Your classmates looked terrified, however you were looking everywhere but the stage with the menacing classmate. Eyes shifting from one place to another you noticed your way out of here. It was a little far away, but if you planned this correctly… then maybe it would work.

“Hey come on!” Kaminari spoke from somewhere near you, his captor looking ready to move forward with him. “I don’t wanna be a zombie!!”

Your mind clicked at his voice. Kaminari was the solution to this problem of distance! And now that his captor was moving he could help you in this last effort plan. You could only hope Kaminari was good in a panic and would be able to see it through perfectly.

“Kaminari…!” You whispered harshly over to the blonde haired boy who looked just as terrified as everyone else. 

He glanced over to you, seeing you motion towards something. But he clearly was not getting the point. You sighed, lifting a leg up and then mock using it to kick what was beside you. It seemed to click then in his mind, and with a worried glance, but trusting your idea, he followed through.

He started thrashing about slowly, rocking back and forth to gain momentum until suddenly he went crashing into you and your captor. The fall from both Kaminari and the student holding him sent you and your captor into the wall behind you both. Despite the situation, it seemed your holder wouldn’t even lessen their grip a little bit, nor even react in any way to you and Kaminari messing around.

It seemed this mind control really was holding strong on the students. The good thing was, you had fallen exactly where you wanted to. The red block on the wall had been hit perfectly to suddenly fill the quiet room with a loud and blaring alarm. The perfect distraction for you to escape and dash back to the lunch room quickly to find Plagg and stop this newest threat.

Suddenly it seemed as if the loud blaring alarm had not only caused a good distraction to stop what was happening, but looked as if for only a quick moment… everyone in the crowd returned to normal.

Seeing as you could focus more on this when in costume and with powers, you broke out of the hold of your captor and took off down the hallway. Many of your other new classmates seemed to have done so as well, following after you down the strangely empty and quiet halls of what should be a lively high school.

“We all need to run in separate directions and hide! Wait until help arrives!” Iida was instructing everyone, knowing that in this case, staying together would make it easy for the masses to grab hold of them again.

Everyone looked to agree, going into small groups and looking for places to hide, while others, such as yourself had taken off alone at the start. The lunch room was where you needed to go… you only hoped you could get there fast and before any more followers found you and dragged you back.

You managed to grab your bag in time, but as you were about to dash back the direction you came, you heard footsteps coming towards you. Thus, you dove into the kitchen part of the cafeteria, hiding in a large cupboard and opening your bag to talk to the little kwami inside and quickly.

While you were transforming, it turns out you didn’t hear the sounds of some hive-minded teen, but rather the footsteps of your secret partner. Bakugou rushed in, seeing his bag was luckily still resting where it had been left. He knew what was behind him though, as trying to barricade a door had cost him precious time and now he was being followed by a large hoard of mind washed extras.

“Shit…” He cursed, seeing them come in.

“Bakugou. Transfo-” Tikki spoke, but Bakugou held his hand over where she was speaking from a slightly opened zipper. 

“Come with us.” The group of five all spoke in unison. “It’s your time to become equal.”

Bakugou’s eyebrows knitted together and one of them eyebrows twitched. “It’s not fucking equality if you’re making every damn person live under oppression! So get the Hell out of my way before I make you fucking regret it.”

The teens didn’t seem to care about his threat and started to approach, walking forward and circling him in a slow manner. Bakugou prepared for a fight, since he was the only one able to purify the akuma at this moment.

Right as they all reached out to grab him and he was ready to throw his own hands into the mix, a sudden, powerful flow of air came through, sending a few of the teens sliding back across the slick and polished cafeteria floor.

“And looks like we’ve got one free thinker.” Kuro smiled, hoisting Bakugou up and pulling one of his arms around her shoulders as she used her other hand to wave her fan and move them away. “Bye bye, hive mind!”

In the next moment, the pair were airborne. Bakugou yelled out as he saw them carrying off towards a window and where the outer part of campus was. Kuro was as quick with her reflexes as the animal she portrayed through, and with a simple kicking of her leg managed to slide through the open window and landed outside with Bakugou in the next moment.

“There we go!” She smiled, letting Bakugou go, slight blush on her cheeks. “Now hurry and either run for help or hide and wait until my partner shows up.”

She was gone a moment later, only leaving another gust of wind in her wake as she took off and bounced back into the school to help anyone else who might need it. Bakugou watched with blinking eyes and face in a stupor.

“Bakugou! Go help Kuro!” Tikki called from inside the bag, seeming to break the boy of his slight trance.

“Huh?!” He shook his head, and took off to hide behind a bush to transform.

As he did so, he couldn’t help but question why exactly she was blushing and seemed so uninterested in talking to him as she did with his more heroic counterpart. Then again, he was someone who might have a crush on two different people… so he really didn’t give a shit on what the cat girl was thinking. She had proven herself to be a weirdo before, and this was only continuing the trend.

Red Beetle was soon on the scene though, going back in the way Kuro had and following the sound of movement. He found his partner literally blowing away the enemy with her fan as more and more came by.

He pulled one of his grenades off the belt, making sure it wasn’t the ‘Lucky Charm’ or ‘Purification’ one, but rather the one that used his elemental ability. Kuro had always used her wind ability with such ease that he wanted to see if his own grenade one might be good.

“Hey cat!” Red Beetle called, catching not only her attention but the attention of the teens swarming her and reaching for her necklace. “Fucking hit it!”

He threw the grenade towards her, pulling the pin as he did so. Kuro chuckled, aiming her fan and then using a gust of wind to send the item towards the teens. It exploded a second later, a wall of fire separating the teens and heroes for a moment. 

The walls glowed red and orange as Red Beetle pulled Kuro back and she yelped. She turned to look at him, seeing as he was keeping her far away from the magic fire.

“Stay the hell away from it!” He ordered her, and Kuro turned back as to see why.

The hive mind was now hitting a wall of light, still glowing and reflecting like fire would. Kuro looked towards RB with a huge smile, seeming intrigued by this. Red Beetle puffed out his chest a little bit, wanting to hear the praise for his cool fire ability.

Someone beat Kuro to it though.

“So it seems that while Kuro has a little control over the air… your’s is different. Being able to create fire from your grenades and use it as a sort of barricade to some extent. Makes sense, seeing as thus far both you and your powers are opposite from one another. Kuro is offense seeing as she can attack, while Red Beetle is defensive, able to create blockades made of fire.”

An annoyed tingle ran up the ash blonde’s spine as he turned to glare at the person who had suddenly spoke up. He watched as Midoriya pushed open a locker he had been hiding in, scribbling furiously in some new journal he had.

“Glad you’re safe now, Midoriya.” Kuro rose up a hand towards the boy.

“Thanks to you, Kuro. And Red Beetle as well.” He beamed, looking to be taking in every detail. “So thus far, I know Kuro is a being of bad luck, destruction, and offense. Red Beetle is one of good luck, creation, and defense. I wonder what else the both of you are able to do… Oh Kuro! Since Red Beetle purifies things, are you able to absorb the negativity? It makes sense… purification or absorption into a negative mass-”

“Get lost, we have a fight to win, De- Deeeuude.” Red Beetle’s teeth grinded together, forcing himself to sound like Kaminari so he wouldn’t sound like himself.

Midoriya seemed to at least understand the reason for the harsh words and slowly crawled back into the locker and shut the door. 

“Well… that was kinda mean.” Kuro said, watching RB cross his arms.

“He can nerd out after no one else is in danger.” He turned to Kuro with a frown, only to see her nod eagerly.

“Excellent point, boss! Now! What’s your great plan this time around!” She spoke with a wide smile, making his chest tighten again.

Damn her… he needed to focus on winning this battle… not focus on what Tikki called a ‘crush’. Shaking his head and taking off down the hallway, Beetle began to speak. Kuro following behind him, blasting any students with air that tried to come too close.

“First we need to figure out what’s causing the damn mind control and how to break it.” Red Beetle said, opening a door to a classroom and walking in.

Kuro followed behind, shutting and barricading the door as Red Beetle did the same with the other one. They had a few minutes to plan now, and then they could fight to save the day again as they always did.

“I think I might actually have the answer to that.” Kuro smiled. “I was about to jump in and help out when this girl rammed herself into a fire alarm. It was only for a moment, but everyone came back with the sound… so I think we need to startle them to break the control.”

“If a sense stimulus like hearing didn’t work… we may have to try physically. Actually… thinking about it now… all those guys you blasted away never came back, did they?” Red Beetle realized and snapped his fingers. “That’s it then… we can break the trance by causing physical harm.”

“Let’s not jump fully into harming innocent civilians then. I’ll only use my fan if they are getting too close to either of us. What we really need to worry about is the guy doing this and his akumatized object letting him do so.” Kuro spoke, watching Red Beetle nod his head.

“He establishes the mind control through provoking people and getting them to talk to him… so as long as we don’t talk to him we should be fine.” Red Beetle smirked. “Then we just need to grab his face and punch that fucking voice changer until the damn butterfly flies out.”

“You’re not sounding too heroic with this desire to cause bodily harm… but we do need that voice changer somehow…” Kuro could at least agree on that.

“Well… let me think of a plan then, cat.” Red Beetle showed Kuro a smug expression as one came into mind. “Oh… you’ll fucking love this one…”

Kuro could only gulp, having a feeling that she might also be in danger of bodily harm. But then again, despite how intimidating Red Beetle could be, she knew she could trust him. After all… he did let her talk with him on what they knew this time and even worked with her automatically.

Thus, if his battle habits were changing… maybe she could at least give him a little more room to boss her around until he could finally see her as what she wanted him to see her as. Until then… she’d go along with whatever crazy idea he had come up with.


	10. Trust and Misguidedness

Ch.10 - Trust and Misguidedness

(AN- Updates for this series will now officially be twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. Enjoy~)

The doors to the library busted open, a pair of figures walking in. The mind controller raising a brow at the sight of the two heroes marching in. Red Beetle holding Kuro’s arms and leading her in like she was a prisoner. His face blank and eyes empty.

He stopped before the altar of desks, where a few of the bodyguard lackies were gathered around. Shinsou waved for them to clear the way and he approached. He paused at the edge of the altar of desks and looked down at the two.

Kuro’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to get away with brainwashing him…”

Shinsou rose a brow. Did they take him for an idiot? He may not be the most athletic or strong… but he certainly was quick witted and smart. Snapping his fingers, he motioned for the students who were supposed to be guarding him to rush the pair of heroes.

Seeing as their plan had gone wrong, the pair separated and pushed their backs against one another.

“I told you that wasn’t going to work!” Kuro shouted, seeing as Red Beetle’s plan to pretend to get mind washed had failed miserably within a minute.

“Shut up! At least I fucking tried to think of something!” Red Beetle shouted back.

“I would have thought that he’d remember brainwashing you!” Kuro shouted back.

“The fucker has brainwashed nearly the entire school… I was going off the idea he might not realize who he can or can’t control!” Red Beetle snarked back at his ‘sidekick’.

Shinsou rose a brow at this. They were fighting and looked to be getting very irritated with one another. Perhaps… he could exploit this a little bit. 

‘Do what needs to be done’ A voice in his head told him. ‘The sooner you erase what makes them above everyone else… then everyone will truly be the same. And no one else will ever face disappointment for being born unlike something else!’

“Of course… and you’ll get your miraculous.’ Shinsou responded, clicking a button on his paper-thin mask.

“So now what?!” Kuro shouted, having not heard what the brainwasher had been saying or doing.

“Give me a damn moment to think! Let a real hero get your sorry ass out of here!” He shouted back, trying to defend himself against the numerous people trying to grab him.

“Oh… some brave hero you are to push this all on me…” Kuro sighed.

“Oh shut up!” Red Beetle shouted.

Kuro blinked and then noticed something that made her stomach drop. The students around her all stopped their movement and even backed up. Was that her voice? But where did it come from?

She turned around and looked up, seeing Shinsou’s mask was glowing a little bit.

“Were you unaware of this little ability?” He spoke, though the voice sounded just like hers.

Before she could answer though, someone grabbed her again. Forcing her hands together and not letting her go. Kuro thrashed about, bumping into whoever was grabbing her, not liking how her captor was decked in red and black.

“RB, come on! Snap out of it!” She begged, but couldn’t sense any sort of individual thought from him.

“See… now I’ll remember brainwashing him.” Shinsou beckoned the pair forward. “I may not be able to tell when you break people of my brainwashing… but I most certainly do remember every face I put under my ideology.”

Kuro grimaced. This wasn’t good. Red Beetle was much stronger than her and she was being forced towards the mind controller who would more than likely take her miraculous and then her own mind as well.

This… was bad.

“Perfect….” The mind controller muttered. “Your petty arguing will always be the downfall of you. Now… I will take Kuro’s miraculous before converting her to my cause as well.”

He turned to RB who was still holding Kuro tightly, the purple-haired male smirking from beneath the mask. “Red Beetle… if you’d please do the honors of stripping Kuro of her power.”

“C-come on RB!” Kuro wailed, failing to shake RB off as he reached one hand over for her necklace. “Y-you said there was nothing to worry about! You said you were going to defeat this guy!”

Red Beetle gripped Kuro’s necklace, lifting it slowly. Shinsou watched with eager eyes, as Kuro watched with a pair of terrified ones. Suddenly, RB stopped, smirk coming onto his features.

“Lucky you, catgirl… I don’t break promises…” He smirked, letting go of Kuro’s necklace.

Kuro’s face of fear turned into a matching expression of smugness. Her fan at the ready and her special ability ready to be used. Shinsou looked shocked, stepping back as RB approached him.

“Not how I planned it… but my Lucky Charm seemed to still work.” He smirked, cracking his knuckles. “Now… either hand over where the damn akuma is hiding… or I’ll beat it out of you.”

“I know you’re not saying it to me… but still.” Kuro sighed, seeing as RB’s plan of ‘talking’ to the rival through one another was a good one, though she didn’t like how he was technically threatening her.

“Shut up and use your power!” Red Beetle yelled, and Kuro did just that.

“How… how did you break my mind control?” The puppet master’s eye twitched.

“Oh. Red Beetle. Here.” Kuro shouted, tossing him an object with her free hand. 

RB caught it with ease, showing off a small object. It was one of those devices that would send a small electric shock into you to test reflexes… and seemed to be the perfect way to help move the plan forward.

“Pretend to be mind-controlled. Check. Get really mind-controlled. Check. Have Kuro shock you in the leg and Shinsou not notice. Check.And then get close enough to him to not have others to protect him…. Check. Your plan was good, Red Beetle.” Kuro smirked, and then dashed forward.

Shinsou didn’t have much time to react as both heroes swarmed him. He was powerless if he couldn’t get them to talk to him. And despite the voice of Monarch screaming in his head to fight… he refused. It took all his willpower to fight against Monarch’s own strong will… but he allowed the pair of heroes to grab the object around his face.

Kuro pulled the mask off and watched as it turned into dust. A black butterfly flying out, and soon an explosion of light, cleansing it all and restoring order. Another villain down and another person freed.

Red Beetle smirked, happy for another victory, but while he was celebrating… Kuro noticed exactly what the akumatized object had been. A piece of paper, having been crumbled together. The words ‘We regret to inform you…’ meeting her eyes.

Her heart dropped at this, seeing as… she really had upset him earlier. But now… she had another chance as another person. Shinsou was right here after all, thus… she could try to ease him a little more than before now. Make things… a bit more right.

“Feeling better?” Kuro asked gently, kneeling down as she always did.

Shinsou shook his head, looking around rather confused. How did he get into the library and when did the two heroes even get here? More so, when and where did all these people come from?

Kuro smiled sadly towards him, stopping her kneeling and then sitting down with him completely. The soft beeping of her necklace letting her know that her five minutes had dropped down to four… but she wanted to say something. Make a better conversation with Shinsou now than she did before.

“Sometimes… life decides to throw some unfair swings at us.” She spoke gently, Shinsou freezing as the catgirl spoke. “And sometimes… we get really angry about what happens.”

Shinsou sighed softly. “I take it my anger towards the Gifted Program… got out of control? Even so, I’m fine now… no need to try and give me some pep talk.”

He sneered a little bit, looking as if he had heard this many times before. And Kuro… knew he had. Parents wanting to ease him, trying to convince himself of his own worth… she was sure Shinsou and those in General Studies like Shinsou… all were tired of being told they were still amazing but not feeling truly recognized for it.

“I’m not going to give you a pep talk.” Kuro shook her head. “Because that’s not what you need. Nor do you need any kind of reassurance or faith. What you need… is to hear the truth.”

Shinsou blinked, looking towards Kuro with a wide-eyed expression. That was certainly new. She looked serious too, and even her red companion looked to be listening to her, as he stood with a surprised expression only a little bit away.

“There is always going to be someone who is better than you. Whether it's in academics, athletics, or talents. Those people might seem like they don’t deserve it… but then again, who are you to cast judgment onto them? Because at the end of the day… are you not doing the same as what you were so upset about?”

Shinsou bit his lip and then cried out towards the hero. “So you’re saying I should just accept that I’m not good enough then?!”

Kuro shook her head. “No. That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

“Then what… what are you trying to tell me?” Shinsou looked down, gripping his hands together so tightly into fists his knuckles turned white.

“Keep trying.” Kuro smiled gently. “I know it’s the last thing you want to hear… but a ‘no’ right now doesn’t mean it’ll always be a ‘no’. Just because what makes you unique now isn’t as flashy as those who were picked… doesn’t mean you can’t improve.”

Shinsou exhaled, letting a chuckle or two fall from his lips. “So… you’re saying that I need to focus on me and my shortcomings… first.”

“No. Only focus on you. Of course, be kind to other people, but… remember that at the end of the day… the only person who can make you happy and can make you feel like you have any worth… is you. Friends, loved ones, and mentors can say powerful things, but you are the one who chooses to believe their words or not. So… once you start to see why and what you need to do… I’m sure things will work out for you.”

Shinsou nodded slowly, watching as Kuro stood up, her necklace showing two more minutes left. She held out her hand, offering her help to the boy who looked like the clouds above him were starting to clear and brighten a path towards what he now knew he needed to do.

“Thank you…” He muttered, looking towards Red Beetle as well. “Thank you both.”

“Just don’t go making a fucking cult again…” RB sighed, then opened the window next to him. 

He was gone in the next moment, leaping downwards from the building and going off who knows where to return to his civilian form. Kuro sighed, seeing as she didn’t even get to say goodbye to her almost partner. Maybe next time he’d spare her one more glance. But she couldn’t complain much… seeing as the plan worked fine today.

“Everyone check on your friends and make sure they’re okay, alright?” Kuro spoke towards the groups of students coming back to their senses slowly.

With a few nods telling her they would do exactly that, Kuro went out the same window. She only had a minute left, and thus needed to find a spot to change, and quick. Soon enough, Kuro had found a little outdoor gardening shed and safety turned back, the black kwami flying out and landing in her hands with an exhausted sigh.

“I’m so tired… I might not make it out of this one!” Plagg dramatically sighed.

You laughed gently, placing him in your very spacious pocket and then secretly coming out of the shed. Your bag had some cheese in it for him, and you knew his overacting was his own plea of wanting to be fed. Thus, you’d get the little kwami back as soon as possible and reward him for his help today.

On your way out, you nearly hit someone who was running by. He luckily managed to dodge in time as you stepped out. But that didn’t mean you didn’t get an earful from him for nearly hitting him.

“Oi! Watch it, you damn tour guide!”

Your cheeks were dusted a pink from nearly hitting the ash blonde… that and you couldn’t stand the thought of having nearly rammed a door against your crush. Even so, you immediately held up your hands in defense.

“Watch it!” Bakugou hollered, and then noticed it was you. 

“Sorry, sorry…” You apologized frantically. “I didn’t hear anyone… so I guess that means you were pretty good at giving those crazy mind-controlled peers of ours the slip, huh?”

Bakugou shrugged. “As if they would have gotten me anyway. I’m way too smart and unique to become one with some collective mindset…”

You laughed softly, and then something caught your eye on Bakugou. You pointed towards his head and he rose a brow at you.

“Were you hiding in a tree or a bush?” You asked, seeing the leaves on his head.

Bakugou immediately felt his cheeks flare-up. He was sure he pulled all the leaves out after he transformed back and having done so behind the bush in the wooded area of UA. Before he could say anymore though, you waved at him, starting to walk away.

“It’s an interesting hairstyle. Looks good on you, though.” You tease lightly, picking up the pace before he could counter you.

Instead, Bakugou stood there watching you, not sure what was happening with him again. Part of him wanting to run after you and talk to you more in order to gain your attention, and the other part of him forcing him into silence and only watching as your figure walked away.

Tikki peeked out gently from where she had been hiding in his uniform jacket. She could see that look on his features again… and knew that no good would come of her new holder having a crush on two girls.

Especially since he was unaware of several things she was aware of...


	11. Weekend Plans and Weekly Angst

Ch.11 - Weekend Plans and Weekly Angst

Uraraka had texted you the right address, right? You had taken the right train line to get here, right? And today was Saturday, right?

Your mind was spinning with all sorts of questions and possible mistakes you had made on your way to the mall. Your mother looking pleasantly surprised when you had told her you would be out with friends tonight. Your father even said he hoped you’d have fun (as well as jokingly asking you to ‘tell the blonde boy with the lightning bolt to not knock anything over’).

You looked around nervously, trying to find a familiar face… or several, since about half your class was slated to arrive. Lucky for your anxiety, someone quickly slung one of their arms around your shoulder and another awkwardly embraced your side.

“(Last Name)-chan is here!” Uraraka giggled.

“And we can confirm she has more clothes aside from her tour guide uniform and her UA uniform.” Kaminari laughed loudly.

Jirou quickly pulled Kaminari’s ear, making the male squeak. Uraraka giggled beside you and you couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle of your own as well. Jirou looked pretty annoyed and poor Kaminari was nearly begging her to let his ear go.

“Don’t say borderline perverted things…” Jirou scolded Kaminari, who apologized.

“I’m just excited, Jirou!” Kaminari explained. “We’ve almost been classmates with (Last Name) for a month and this is the first time she’s been able to hang out on the weekend with us!”

“Leave him be, Kyouka-chan!” Uraraka was still as happy as could be and then looked towards you. “We’re all as excited as him to have you with us for class movie and dinner Saturday!”

“I’m excited to be here.” You smiled, then looked towards the others who had arrived.

Mina was eagerly chatting with Kirishima and Sero, both boys texting on their phones like no tomorrow. Midoriya and Iida were in a lively conversation as Todoroki stood slightly behind them. Tsuyu, Hagakure, and Yaoyorozu looked to be having a bubbly convo of their own.

“So thirteen of us then?” You asked, seeing Jirou nod.

“Kiri, Sero, and I are trying hard to make it fourteen though!” Kaminari spoke, taking out his cellphone and starting to rapidly text as Kirishima and Sero were.

“He’s going to kill you for blowing up his phone…” Jirou sighed, and then looked towards you and Uraraka. “Let’s at least get near the theater.”

Uraraka nodded, then turned and gathered everyone’s attention. As it appeared, despite being early… you were the last to arrive. It didn’t matter though, and soon enough everyone was walking through the mall.

You were in the back, chatting with a large group of the girls when suddenly the trio of Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki had stopped. The others in front continue on, as well as some of the girls.

Eventually, it was only you, Uraraka, Tsuyu and the trio of boys who were hanging back.

“Are you sure?” Midoriya asked, looking worried.

“Yes. I’ll be fine.” Todoroki waved Midoriya off and then started walking away from the group and where they were heading.

“Feel better, Todoroki-kun.” Iida announced and then was caught off guard by how separated everyone had gotten. “Everyone else! Let’s hurry!”

Iida led Tsuyu and Uraraka quickly down the mall to the others. But before Midoriya could follow in a sprint as well, you grabbed him and stopped him.

Midoriya blinked and then saw you looking a bit unsure at him. Eyes looking between him and Todoroki’s retreating figure.

“Is Todoroki-kun not coming?” You asked Midoriya and he nodded slowly.

“Yeah… he said he wasn’t really up to socializing tonight.” Midoriya rubbed the back of his head in an unsure fashion.

You nodded and then looked back, Todoroki no longer able to be seen. He didn’t just look like not wanting to socialize with you though… Todoroki’s sudden actions seemed like he was really upset and didn’t want to burden those around him.

“Is he okay?” You asked, looking towards Midoriya with a deep frown on your features.

“I honestly don’t know how to answer that question…” Midoriya muttered. “Todoroki-kun is complicated. And as of late… his family situation has been bearing down on him more than usual.”

“His family?” You blinked and saw Midoriya stiffen slightly.

“It’s not my place to share what Todoroki-kun told me… but he and his father don’t see eye to eye a lot. His siblings are pretty much alienated from each other… and his mother and him have had a rocky relationship for a while. He’s only as of late started to repair it…”

Midoriya’s face lit up red and he turned to look at you, waving his hands frantically back and forth. He seemed to have started mumbling to you and accidentally let slip a few things he should not have shared.

“I-I shouldn’t have said that! P-Please don’t repeat any of that to anyone!” Midoriya begged you.

You, by some miracle, managed to calm down the overreacting male. Midoriya relaxed, looking at you with a red face and then breathed in sharply as you started to speak to him once more.

“Relax, Midoriya-kun.” You smiled at him. “I won’t say anything to anyone. You’ve got my promise as your friend!”

Midoriya relaxed at your words and then gave a small nod. “Thank you…”

“Don’t worry about it. It's obvious you care about your friends a lot.” You gently patted his shoulder and then wandered off in the direction Todoroki had gone.

Midoriya smiled a little bit, seeing that despite you complimenting him on caring greatly for his friends… it was you who was running off to check on Todoroki. He could only hope something good would come out of it.

For you and Todoroki both.

~~~~~

His phone was going off like crazy with alerts from the people who had somehow gotten his number asking if he was going to show up at the movie and dinner night that the other shits from class had invited everyone to.

“Bakugou…” Tikki muttered, looking at the messages from Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari all saying they would continue blowing up his phone until he responded back. “Maybe you should at least… reply?”

Bakugou clicked his tongue, going back to the hiking magazine he was reading on his bed. “No way. I send even one reply telling those shits to leave me alone and they’ll blow up my phone more.”

“But isn’t it mean to ignore your friends?” Tikki tried to urge him.

“They are not my friends… just annoying shits who gravitate to me for whatever damn reason…” He spoke as if this was a proven fact and then turned the page in his magazine.

His eyes lit up a moment later, having spotted something in the magazine that made him a little excited. Seeing as this was the first time today he had done or shown any sort of happiness that wasn’t riddled and mixed with his ego, Tikki hovered over to see what the ash-blonde was looking at.

`“What’s a climbing wall?” Tikki asked, seeing as Bakugou was looking at some advertisement for a new one that had opened.

“It’s a wall you climb.” Bakugou told her.

Tikki gave him a disappointed look and Bakugou smirked. 

“Don’t get all pissy with me, you little bug.” He poked Tikki in her belly, causing a small chuckle to come from the kwami. “If you want a more detailed explanation, a climbing wall is something people climb to have fun. Or if you’re like me, to see what a badass at hiking and climbing you are.”

“You are very good at climbing… probably the best climber of all my holders thus far!” Tikki spoke with a smile.

“You sure fucking bet I am!” Bakugou smirked, turning the page and starting to read some article on the best trails to hike in the summer in Japan.

Tikki was still curious though, and gently lifted the advertisement back and examined it further. She let out a soft gasp, causing Bakugou to stop his reading and then look towards the small floating bug.

“Bakugou! The climbing wall is at the mall!” 

He rose a brow. “So…?”

“Your friends are at the mall right now! So how about you join them at the movies and then can show them all afterward how good at climbing stuff you are!” Tikki beamed, hoping to convince him to go and spend time with his friends.

Bakugou chuckled a few times, shaking his head and then going back to his magazine. The laugh wasn’t even a kind one, but rather one someone would make when they found something ridiculous.

“Nice try Tikki… but I’m in for the day.” He smirked. “And nothing is going to get me out of this room.”

Tikki sighed. She tried, so who could really fault her for that. So with the knowledge that she would be hanging out tonight as well… and that Bakugou’s parents were out, she’d sneak down and take a few cookies his mom made today.

After all, if she was having a calm and lazy night at home too… she might as well enjoy it with a few good snacks.

~~~~~

By the time you had finally managed to catch up to where Todoroki had run off to, you were nearly on the opposite side of the mall. You were luckily able to spot his figure hanging out around a small cafe. 

You approached slowly, seeing him spot you. You moved in, taking a seat at the table he was sitting at. He seemed to have purchased the drink being advertised, but it looked a bit too sweet and aesthetic for someone like Todoroki to have bought because he wanted it.

“The employees not let you sit here unless you bought something?” You asked softly.

“Yes.” Todoroki muttered, motioning towards the drink. “Do you like whatever a cake batter frappuccino is?”

You laughed softly. “For the sake of my heart and my arteries… I’m going to pass on that sugar overload.”

Todoroki nodded back to you, and then a silence fell upon the table. You shuffled awkwardly, not sure what to do or say. Out of everyone in class… the only people you really didn’t know at all were Bakugou and Todoroki.

And at least with Bakugou… you could guess how he was feeling or thinking from his outbursts… but Todoroki was a completely different temperature compared to Bakugou. Silent, aloof, and always unable to read.

You were taking a shot in the dark about anything and everything… and with your social awkwardness, you feared that this wasn’t going to go well. You feared making his feelings worse as you had done with Shinsou before.

“Shouldn’t you be with the others?” Todoroki asked you. “I know a few of the girls were excited to have you tagging along.”

You sighed, looking towards him. “I was more worried about you… I’ve barely known you for a month… but it just seemed so out of the blue for you to look so disgruntled and then suddenly announce you were leaving. Are you okay, Todoroki-kun?”

He shrugged. “I thought getting away tonight would bring me some relief… but instead, it's only made me angrier…”

You blinked, noticing how much harsher his tone got with every word. And before you could even say anything else, Todoroki continued on, voice growing in harshness.

“It makes me sick thinking that in another few hours I’ll have to go home… and deal with the usual bullshit.” Todoroki’s hand curled into a fist. “First he makes her break down and now he’s saying he’s going to restrict me seeing her…”

“Todoroki-kun…” You breathed, barely recognizing the person in front of you from how he spoke with such powerful hatred, feeling panic set in as your eyes widened.

“It’s just like him to do this too… to restrict every relationship I have. And right when I’m starting to connect with her again. What’s next… he's going to pull me from school? Tell me I can’t be friends with Midoriya and Iida?”

Todoroki gritted his teeth harshly, looking at you with dual expression of icy hatred and burning rage.

“The reason behind all my despair… has always been my father, (Last Name). And I don’t know how much longer I can take it… or him.”

And then… a black butterfly landed on him.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't wait to break u all next chapter ;)


	12. Genuine Connections and New Feelings

Ch.12 - Genuine Connections and New Feelings

You watched with wide, terrified eyes as the black butterfly gently moved its wings back and forth from where it rested on the top of Todoroki’s head. The boy in question only raising a brow at you from how you had suddenly gone stiff and had a look of panic across your features.

“Did I overshare again?” Todoroki asked, his voice returning to normal. “Midoriya says I have a bad habit of doing that…”

“A-awe no… i-it’s fine. I really appreciate you venting to me!” You called out, looking around for something or anything to stop this disaster.

Could you hit the Akuma with a shoe like a regular bug? Even if you could… you didn’t want to suddenly hit Todoroki with a shoe. Especially since you didn’t want to tell him of the danger on his head.

“Is something wrong then?” Todoroki pressed on, now suddenly deciding to be observant of others social cues. “Did I smile? I’ve been told it could make women drop like flies…”

“What?” You got distracted by that statement.

At Todoroki’s sudden drop in his mood again, the butterfly took to flying once more. This time moving towards Todoroki’s face. You held your breath, knowing this was not good. Everyone knew what these butterflies were now… and you feared witnessing another classmate getting turned into a supervillain.

“Oh… it's back.” Todoroki muttered as if this was a simple little thing.

He looked towards you, holding up his phone. “Excuse me for a moment.”

The heterochromatic male then held his device up to the bug, and it absorbed into the object without a second thought. Todoroki grew still and you waited with bated breath. After all… this was unlike the other Akumas thus far…

“I’ve told you before. I’m not interested.” Todoroki spoke suddenly, shaking his head.

In the next moment, the butterfly gently flew out. It landed on the table between the pair of you. Todoroki exhaled slowly, bending down and then smacking his shoe against the table, sending the drink toppling over. The Akuma took off a moment later, flying off to wherever it came from.

You were dumbfounded. Not only could you simply refuse to help Monarch… but Todoroki seemed to have a system down for dealing with it.

“It seems my shoe isn’t an effective weapon to kill it…” He looked disappointed by this. 

“How did… when did…” You were clearly not done processing this all yet.

Todoroki shrugged. “Monarch has been contacting me for the last few weeks. I have no interest in getting revenge against my father though. It would only make me the same as him. And as Midoriya has told me… I can be my own person. So, I’m not going to be someone who causes others harm because I have the ability and power to.”

You blinked. “Todoroki-kun… you’re amazing.”

He looked surprised by that remark, turning his head slightly in embarrassment. 

“Sorry… that was a little out of nowhere.” You spoke, trying to clear the sudden awkward air. “I just mean… you were worrying me earlier with all that talk… but I understand it now. Those butterflies had been bothering you all week and you were not in a good mood tonight. And so… you didn’t want to risk worrying or hurting your friends, right?”

He nodded. “Yes… that and I don’t feel so trapped to take the poison. I’ve actually been staying with Midoriya for the past few days. His mother has even started looking for any legal measures in place to make sure that I can still see my mother no matter what my father does.”

“Yup… you’re amazing.” You chuckled, Todoroki this time giving you a smile of his own.

“I wouldn’t call it that.”   
  


“Just take the compliment! You just fought off Monarch yourself! And from what you’ve said… you’ve done it a lot!”

“Well… I have good examples of people who are ruthlessly kind to make me strive for the same thing.” He spoke, noticing the mess. “Oh… I spilled the drink.”

You laughed and then had an idea cross your mind.

“Hey, Todoroki-kun? Do you wanna see something cool?” 

He rose a brow at you but didn’t seem to be uninterested in whatever you were proposing.

~~~~~

“Come on!” You called excitedly. “We’re almost there!”

Todoroki hadn’t guessed you’d be taking him to the museum when you left the mall and boarded the train with him. Even so, he couldn’t help but feel a bit curious himself at what you wanted to show him.

It was clear even to him, that you were trying to cheer him up. And thus when you approached a room and opened the door for him, he stepped in without questioning it. The room was a circular shape, and he spotted couches lining the area. In the center was a control panel of sorts, of which you had run to and started using.

“Take a seat and relax!” You called and then snapped your fingers. “When’s your birthday?”

“January eleventh.” He spoke as his eyes watched the blank ceiling suddenly begin to light up as the other lights dulled.

“And you’re fifteen… so if I do the math correctly… here we are!”

The ceiling had now transformed into a starry sky. Todoroki’s eyes went wide as he looked above. It was pretty, so many lights and colors all looking down at him. 

“This was the sky on the night you were born. Pretty cool right?” You spoke softly, clicking a button as lines started to carve out certain stars. “Here are the constellations that appeared that night as well.”

“Does this machine show other dates?” He asked and you nodded.

“Cool right?” You hummed. “The star show has always been one of my favorites.”

“What’s your favorite thing in the museum?” Todoroki asked you, despite being unable to look away from this unique display of stars.

“Mine?” You tapped your chin. “I’d have to say… as lame as it is… the fossil hallway.”

“You like discoveries then?”

“Yeah… I want to be an explorer and artifact preservationist like my parents… so I’ve always been tied to fossils and artifacts.” 

Todoroki smiled gently to himself. “You’ll be a great one then…”

You chuckled lightly. “Thank you… I hope so too.”

About three hours passed with you and Todoroki looking at various dates and stars. Both of you making light talk as you did so. But eventually, you noticed the time and thought it was time to head out before security found you both and kicked you out… or worse.

Todoroki and you were walking in silent stride as you made your way towards the exit. You swung your key around your finger. Both unaware of three people watching you and then the hall lights in the lobby flicked on.

You and Todoroki temporarily were blinded by the sudden harsh lights. But now slightly worried who had caught you sneaking into the museum during after hours. You more worried than Todoroki, but still cautious who had caught you both.

“So, is it a new trend to have dates at museums over movie theaters now?” Someone asked, making you and Todoroki look towards where the voice was coming from.

A man stood between two bodyguards at the top of the stairs in the lobby, softly waving them off. He looked caucasian, more than likely having some sort of origin in the West. Especially since while his Japanese was spoken very well… he still had a very easy to identify accent. He waved off the security guards and approached the two teens.

“Uncle Dolion…” You muttered and puffed out your cheeks.

“Hey, now kiddo, c’mon!” The man backtracked, looking flustered himself now. “I was only kidding! And besides, had I not been here… you both would be meeting guards right now.”

“Fine fine…” You muttered and then looked at the man once more. “Actually… I can still be mad at you! You didn’t even tell me you were going to be in Japan! It’s been at least a year since I saw you last, too!”

The older man laughed. “Sorry, but the expedition and explorer life calls.”

You and this man continued on the conversation, Todoroki getting more and more confused with every word exchanged. Soon enough though, he seemed to have found a lull in the conversation to ask his question.

“This man is your uncle?” Todoroki motioned between the pair of you. “You both look nothing alike.”

You and your apparent uncle looked at each other before bursting into a small fit of laughter. You turned to Todoroki motioning towards the man as you knew you should explain the situation a bit further.

“No, we’re not… related per say. But I’ve known Dolion since I was born. My dad and he go way back!”

“We were roommates in college and have been close friends since starting expeditions together. I actually was the one to suggest the name (Name) to her parents. Guess my taste in cute names was too good to pass up.

Though it’s been a while since I’ve seen my Goddaughter now. I’ve been off doing other expeditions, and well… the (Last Name)s have decided to settle down for the next few years. But it seems your father couldn’t resist begging me for help. Thus I’m here.” 

You blinked, knowing your father rarely ever asked for help unless it was a dire circumstance and thus this statement intrigued you a little bit. Despite how you were being a bit of a rude host to Todoroki, you decided to try and see if you could find out why your father had called your uncle here.

“Is something wrong with dad, uncle?” You asked, worry woven thickly into the threads of your voice.

Dolion shook his head. “Not healthwise… but it appears the theft of those miraculous has been weighing down on him heavily. So, he asked if I could come and decipher the grimoire and why someone might try to steal the stones.”

“So does this mean you’ll be in town for a while?” You asked and then exploded into joy when the explorer shook his head ‘yes’.

“Ah, this is great! Are we going to continue our weekly meal experiments?” You were ecstatic.

“If your mother doesn’t mind us ruining her new kitchen.” Dolion laughed and then a soft ringing entered the air. “Oh, that’s my phone. I’ll excuse myself from here. Have a long night of translation work after all. It was nice to see you doing well, (Name).”

He walked off with a smirk towards you and the boy you had with you. You stuck your tongue out at him and then laughed again. Finally turning back to Todoroki and bowing towards him.

“My apologies for ignoring you… I just haven’t seen him since we were in China last year.” You spoke, Todoroki and you starting to walk off.

“You two seem close.” Todoroki commented. 

“He was the closest thing I had to a friend growing up.” You muttered with a tinge of melancholy. 

“Well… if it matters at all-” Todoroki paused, stopping his stride to face you. “I consider you a friend after what you’ve done for me tonight. And I’m sure I’m not the only one in class to think that way either.”

You smiled softly at the bi-colored male before you and then walked towards him. Hugging him gently and with care… something you felt as if he needed more than you did after all he had shared with you and trusted you with today.

“Thanks, Todoroki-kun.” You pulled away, missing a face of surprise on his features before he turned to his usual monotone. “I’m glad to have you and everyone else be my friends.”

Todoroki smiled gently, a rosy hue on his cheeks. But like your uncle, it seemed Todoroki was also slated for a phone call before he could speak further. He answered and exchanged a few words with someone on the other end who was definitely talking more than him.

“Midoriya.” He told you before you could ask once the call was over.

“Oh. Is everything okay? I know we did kinda skip the movie and dinner plans…” You awkwardly rubbed the back of your head. “Guess I’ll need to make that up to Uraraka and Mina.”

“Everything’s fine. He just wanted to know if I’d be able to find his house okay.” Todoroki seemed to not be as on the topic of skipping tonight as you were. “Does the station we got off at have a red line route?”

“Not the one we used… but the station down the street from here does.” You spoke and then directed Todoroki to the other station.

Soon enough he was heading off, and you waved him goodbye from the entrance of the museum. He nodded towards you, the darkness and nip of the night air luckily blocking his rosy cheeks to you. Soon enough, he was gone and you started your own walk down a block and a half to your home.

Something inside your bag unzipped it and floated up to your shoulder. The black kwami lazily lying on you as you walked briskly to get home and to the comfort of your bed. Plagg looked to have found one final piece of cheese from the entire round carton you had given him as leverage for him to behave and soon had quickly finished it.

“Looks like you’ve ensnared one tonight.” Plagg commented and you paused in your stride.

“Huh?” You blinked, looking at the kwami.

“That boy. He seemed to develop a sudden crush on you.” Plagg spoke with more detail.

“T-Todoroki-kun? Like me?!” You shook your head. “Come on, Plagg. He’s just a friend.”

Plagg gave you an unamused expression, slowly floating up towards your face. He quickly headbutted you gently and you cried at the soft moment of pain before it was gone.

“What was that for?” You complained towards the black kwami, who was now resting in your hair.

“Don’t make comments like that when you can’t know the other person’s feelings for sure. It’ll only hurt you and them in the long run, kid.” Plagg spoke seriously, out of character for him.

“Wow, Plagg… I had no idea you could be responsible. Aren’t you supposed to be the deity of destruction?” You teased the kwami lightly, carrying on towards home.

“Hey! I can be a lot of things! Just you wait and see!” Plagg seemed to return back to his usual self quite quickly.

The rest of the journey home was filled with you attempting to hide the kwami again and then him saying that he was too clever to be caught; your mind off what he had just told you about Todoroki.

Leaving only the boy in question to conclude why he felt so light and happy around you tonight himself… and come to a similar conclusion as Plagg had by the time he reached his friend’s house.

  
  



	13. Murphy’s Law and Negative Reinforcement

Ch.13 - Murphy’s Law and Negative Reinforcement 

“Thank you for that… interesting report, Kaminari.” Aizawa sighed, looking towards the other students as Kaminari grabbed his things before returning to his seat.

Kirishima and Sero gave the male thumbs up for his ‘ _ Me: Past, Present, and Future _ ’ project. As it turns out, Kaminari seemed to have taken into account that in another five to ten years, he’d be some sort of movie star. 

Aizawa had let him go off easily, but hoped that the other students would be more… practical. This exercise was supposed to help with many things they’d need in everyday life: public speaking, not over or under shadowing themselves, and most importantly… the idea that soon enough, they wouldn’t be kids, but rather adults.

Kaminari had been the unlucky guy whose student number had been drawn first, and thus Aizawa was ready to pick another victim. The usual school day would go from around eight-thirty in the morning till around three pm (aside from the gifted program who had an extra period to further develop their ‘gifts’, and would be at UA until four in the afternoon), but today, the day would only be made of these presentations.

It was the midterm projects and the last thing before summer break started. You couldn’t believe it… having been here a little over a month and you’d already nearly reached summer break. But then again… you had no idea what summer break truly was or how to experience it properly. A question for the girls you thought.

“Midoriya.” Aizawa’s voice brought you back to reality as the green-haired boy quickly rushed up to the speaking podium to set up his project.

“I-I want to be a mangaka…” Midoriya spoke, the first slide appearing and him starting to explain how he got to this point. “It all started with Toshinori’s manga series when I was a child… I took to his character All Might a lot. Toshinori’s work and All might as a character have-”

An ear rattling thud came through the room suddenly. Your eyes widening in horror when you realized that your bag had toppled over and the contents of your own project were spilling out, as well as your lunch.

“Crap!” You hollered, rushing to separate the food items from the ‘valuable and one of a kind’ pieces of history your parents had to be convinced over a week to even allow you to hold, let alone bring in.

You bent down, trying and hoping that nothing was ruined. Your mind going so frantic you failed to notice everyone was looking at you. Even Aizawa had told Midoriya to stop so he could see if things were okay.

“Paper towels.” Someone crouched down next to you. “It’s laminated… but we’ll need paper towels to wipe the food off.”

“I’ll get some.” Yaoyorozu spoke from behind you and quickly dashed out to get them.

“Is anything seriously ruined?” Todoroki asked you, gently putting the clean artifacts in your hands, his own skin lightly brushing against yours.

“I don’t think so…” You breathed out slowly and then looked up towards the front of the room. “I’m sorry for interrupting you Midoriya-kun. And I’m sorry for causing a scene and wasting any potential presentation time, Aizawa-sensei.”

“I-It’s fine!” Midoriya waved his hands back and forth. “That stuff you have is way more valuable to our society than anything I could have said or done!”

“Midoriya-kun… don’t say that. You do a lot of good things.” You scolded him lightly, showing your adult upbringing once more before turning back to Todoroki. “And thanks for your quick help, Todoroki-kun. I think you managed to save some of these works.”

“It was nothing.” He smiled gently. “Glad to help preserve culture.”

You laughed softly, not sure if you should tell him or not that it was more saving your butt from your father’s wrath. The man had a habit of overreacting if something he studied was ruined. But… that was just the researcher in him.

“(Last Name).” Aizawa spoke, making you look at him. “It seems that while you saved the one of a kind pieces of your presentation… your uniform has seen the front of the mess.”

Sure enough, your once pristine UA uniform was now covered in stains: red, pink, brown, green, and some oranges too. Even little pieces of rice were sticking to your skirt.

“Oh no…” You spoke gently, frowning.

“Do you have a spare uniform?” Aizawa rose a brow.

“No…” You admitted, seeing as everyone else did since they started at the correct time unlike you. “Just my gym uniform.”

“Go change into that then. Or anything you might have in your locker.” Aizawa pointed to the door. “And take your bag with you… clean it and empty it.”

“R-right.” You nodded, taking your things and then exiting, taking the returning Yaoyorozu’s paper towels before heading to the locker room.

Unaware that someone had been watching you closely since the noise had occurred. And as your figure disappeared from sight, he turned his head back up to the green-haired boy who was resuming his project. Scarlet eyes annoyed for multiple reasons as usual, and as of late, unsure of why he was for a couple of them.

After ten minutes of wandering UA’s hallways, getting lost once or twice since you still didn’t have this place memorized, you found the girl’s locker room. But, you didn’t want to resort to your gym uniform. 

Lucky for you, you would often have a shift at the museum after classes and would change here instead of rushing through it at the museum. So, you’d just change into that. It made more sense with your own presentation on where you were from and what you wanted to do with your life.

As you were finishing changing, you saw that your bag was still… being restless. A little black kwami popped up from inside the bag, giving you the stink eye as he floated up to you.

“Alright, where is it?” Plagg demanded. “I tore through that entire bag looking for the camembert… but I can’t find it!”

“That’s because, thanks to you and your smelly cheese habits… my bag permanently smells like it.” You sighed and then blinked when the realization struck you. “Wait… Plagg? Did you toss my bag over to have my lunch spill so you could see if I was keeping any cheese in the smaller pocket?”

“Oh wow! You are a clever human!” Plagg smirked. “So smart that you should know that a kwami like me needs to be fed constantly!”

You frowned, ignoring the obvious lie from Plagg and instead turning your back to the kwami as you tried to tie your tie.

“I can’t believe you Plagg! You knew how much that stuff in there meant to me. And you know how I hate being made to look like… like a fool in front of people who I don’t even know if they actually like me or not!”

Plagg shrugged. “So what? Humans create junk like that all the time. I mean if this stuff and I don’t know… the Sphinx was important, why wouldn’t you keep better care of it?”

Your fist tightened. “Plagg… there are so many things wrong with that. People have tried to preserve things like that… but it's hard.”

“If you ask me… humans just don’t care about things anymore when they’re not new.” He crossed his own arms and faced away from you. “It doesn’t matter what it is either… art, literature, sculptures… or actual people.”

Your chest was struck with a pained beat and your eyes welled up. The tie that still had not been tied hung limply around your neck, hitting the deactivated black miraculous that currently looked like a regular hanging necklace that attracted no attention beyond a moving gaze.

“So… that’s what you say when you know I’m worried, huh?” You sniffled, reaching for the object around your neck.

Plagg turned around to look at you, catching onto how cruel the outside influences could make his words seem. He floated near you, watching as you took off your miraculous and put it in your locker.

“Kid… what are you doing?” Plagg asked you, unsure if he should do or say anything beyond that.

“You’re right Plagg…” You spoke, wiping your running eyes. “The novelty of Kuro has worn off. So… I’m going to move onto something more ‘eye-catching.’”

You waited to hear a response back, some kind of snappy or sarcastic quip from the black kwami. He didn’t respond back though, and when you turned around to see if he was okay, regretting your own words you saw nothing.

Your regret turned back into anger once more, and now you had more than enough reason to walk away. Plagg had already gone off, after all, so you now had no issue disappearing and not talking to him either.

You sulked off, heading back to your classroom. But paused at the bathroom first, wiping your eyes dry and trying to make it look like you had not been crying because of a fight between you and a creature you had held close and dear.

Your mother had always said that not knowing how to tie a tie wasn’t the only thing you got from your father. And only now did you realize how his anger and yours… both caused the gun to be jumped often.

Plagg’s whereabouts could be dealt with later though, as right now all you wanted was to get back to class and see what was happening. Midoriya’s presentation had seemed interesting and so you should at least try to hear that last few minutes of it.

You sulked back slowly, the hallway’s emptiness giving you a comfortable feeling of not being caught crying. After all, it would be weird for you to come back to class looking to have cried when everything had been fine when you left.

Plagg’s words repeating in your head as you stood outside the door to class 1-A. Slowly you opened the door, looking in. Only to be thrown to the ground in the next moment. Someone on top of you also groaning from the rough impact.

You sat up and opened your eyes as a bad feeling entered your chest. 

“R-Red Beetle?” You spoke, looking towards the male who was getting up himself.

“The Hell are you doing here? I told everyone on this floor to leave and warn everyone they ran into!” He screamed at you, activating one of his firewall grenades. “Come on, you dumb fuck!”

He roughly pulled you up and pushed his hand into yours before the pair of you took off down the hallway. The sound of something breaking down the firewall making you gulp, knowing this day had gotten much much worse.

“Here!” Red Beetle hollered, pulling and then pushing you into a locker. “Don’t fucking move again!”

He tried to slam the door shut but you stopped him. “What about you?”

RB blinked, shaking his head. “I’m the hero here! Have a little damn faith!”

He clicked his tongue. “And if the fucking stray cat would show up… maybe it would be easy to take this asshole down…”

He slammed the locker shut on you a moment later, running back to where he had been sparring with the villain before. You waited a few moments, knowing that despite the recent quarrel, you needed to find Plagg. 

Red Beetle needed help, and only Kuro could give it to him. 

So now… you’d have to find the kwami. He couldn’t have gone far after all.

Little did you know though… that rejection to a kwami was much different than it was to a human. And thus… Plagg and you would be separated for what could be a long while. All the while, Red Beetle attempts to hold off a villain he was trying to figure out all by himself.

Truly not the best day for you, and it might only get worse from here if you couldn’t find Plagg, and soon.


	14. Freedom and Restrictions

Ch.14 - Freedom and Restrictions

Red Beetle deflected another attack, this one shattering the set of windows behind him. He really couldn’t care much though, either he’d fix the windows at the end… or the idiots in Class 1-B would have a permanent breeze coming in through their shitty classroom now.

What he was caring about, was that the dumb cat had yet to show up. And while he was handling it fine thus far by himself… this Akuma was tricky. And thus, his single set of tricks could only defend him for so long. 

At least, if she was here, he might be able to create a few unpredictable moves. But currently, he was too preoccupied with fending off the various unpredictable attacks of his opponent that he could barely consider attacking himself.

Red Beetle bit his lip as he narrowly avoided a direct strike to his chest by the villain who was jumping across the desks to reach him. Maybe that damn cat girl had a use by his side after all. Seeing as he couldn’t handle all this heat at once.

But then again… did she even deserve one in the first place if she couldn’t even show up when she was clearly needed?

Red Beetle didn’t have much time to think further on Kuro’s true position and status compared to him, as the villain quickly located his weak spot. Striking the male as RB barely had time to use a fire grenade to create some sort of object to watch his back.

Damn her… where was the stupid fucking cat?

~~~~~

You could hear the sounds of fighting and crashing from where you were. It sounded like a huge battle was taking place a few floors above you. And the idea of Red Beetle taking the brunt of the attacks from this unknown enemy only made you run harder and harder down the hallway until you managed to make it back to the girl’s locker room.

You huffed a moment, trying to steady your breathing and eyesight. To the benefit of your heart, the locker you used looked to be exactly as you left it. Your legs carrying you to the locker.

Your combination was printed in bold neon letters inside of your head, but thanks to your nervous fingers, the combination took a total of three tries until you finally managed to get it open. The sound of the door hitting the other locker next to it making you tense up, but then focus back onto what you were looking for.

The necklace had reverted back into its original shape of a single black jewel. Your fingers taking it into your hands and you breathed in slowly. Just like before, right? All you had to do was…

Your mind blanked.

What exactly had you done before? Plagg kinda just showed up?

But… was this even like before?

You and Plagg had gotten into a fight and he disappeared. Even with his miraculous, you couldn't become Kuro without Plagg. Plagg was as much of a part of Kuro as you were… and without him, not only did you not have your powers, you couldn’t find the courage to… to be Kuro.

“Plagg? You called out, looking around the corner to the next row of lockers as if he’d be sitting and waiting for you. “W-will you please come back? I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said what I said?”

No floating kwami appeared before you. Instead, you were greeted by what sounded like a very loud bang coming from only the floor above you. Red Beetle and the Akuma were still on the move… and with each crash and cry, you worried for your almost partner more and more.

You worried for Plagg too.

Despite his personality of being a lazy and slight bad influence… it wasn’t like him to disappear. He was loyal to not only his miraculous but his holder as well. After all, he had not once left your side in the time you had gotten him.

Even to get more camembert from the fridge, he didn’t do. Instead, he had always waited until you were up and about before begging for the cheese as well. It seemed at times… Plagg was afraid to leave your side.

Perhaps… he was more complex than even he wanted to let on.

And you had gone out of your way to use his lack of understanding about humans against him, and now he was gone.

Your eyes felt watery again for the second time today. Your back hitting the locker as you thumbed over the little miraculous in your hands. The black gem shining slightly under the flickering lights as yet another crash occurred.

“Was I a bad holder, Plagg?” You whispered, sinking down onto your knees. “Was I a bad friend as well?”

You sank your teeth into your lip and covered your face with your arms as the little gem pressed against your temple. It was cool and made the small area of your skin tingle.

“Please come back… I can’t help anyone as me. Kuro… is just as much me as she is you.” You sniffled, not caring to stop the tears, guilt finally drowning you. “And… and I want to be friends again. I’ll try to be better… I promise.”

Nothing happened as a response, and you shook slightly. Something in the back of your mind stabbing into consciousness the thought of having been isolated from people growing up making you unable to connect with anyone.

So absorbed into your own misery, you missed the slight glow of the miraculous and then the forming of the black cat again as he hovered before you. 

Plagg stretched slightly, glad to be out of the miraculous he had accidentally been placed back into when you refused his power. But now it seemed you had realized this and brought him back.

His small time out giving him time to reflect on his own harsh words and ready to apologize to his holder. She was worth more than cheese to him after all (And this was also beyond that idea that she bought him that cheese).

“So… this is the part where I give some sappy apology, right?” Plagg breathed out, finally noticing you and your breakdown.

“Woah! What happened?!” Plagg floated near you, immediately worried something worse than he imagined happened.

Your head shot up, looking at Plagg with your large teary eyes. The lights flickering again as another crash came, Plagg starting to understand what had happened in this thirty-minute downtime.

“Plagg!” You threw your arms open, the little kwami embracing you back as you reacted to seeing him again.

“Miss me that much?” Plagg laughed softly, feeling a few droplets come down your cheeks and onto his head.

“Yes.” You were honest. “I thought you were gone forever.” 

Plagg was silent a moment, just letting the sounds of your pain and relief made him realize how cruel he really had been to you. And that, by extension, how you had lashed out because of his words. Gently he floated up to your face, your eyes looking at him with some little droplets still threatening to break at any moment now.

“Listen, kid.” Plagg told you. “I’ll always be here when you need me, okay?”

You shook your head, wiping away your tears slowly. The black kwami watched as you pulled yourself back together again. He knew that humans tended to want to talk things out more, but from the state the school was in… he could tell that the next heart to heart between himself and his current holder would have to be put on hold.

“Is the world falling apart outside?” He asked, moving away from where he had been peeking out through the slits of the locker, hearing another loud rumble in the distance.

“Something like that.” You muttered, taking the miraculous and putting it back around your neck once more. “Ironic that the kwami of destruction has to help be the one to fix it, huh?”

“I can be a very good influence if I want to be.” Plagg smiled smugly, floating around you as you finished putting the necklace back on.

“Ready?” Plagg asked, seeing you nod.

You both didn’t need to say anymore, as it was obvious what Kuro meant to the both of you. Be it time to be active outside the miraculous he was kept in, or to escape to show off your true colors without worrying about lasting impressions… Kuro was something both you and Plagg held dear.

“You know what to say then, kid.” Plagg sighed, knowing he’d be exhausted by the time this was over.

“Don’t you worry, Plagg.” You smirked. “I did buy more cheese yesterday after all.”

Plagg’s eyes lit up, slightly not believing how he didn’t notice himself that there was new cheese at your home. You giggled at his shocked face, quickly inhaling a deep breath before asking to be transformed, Plagg doing so right away.

Both of you ready to move on past this, and stop the most recent Akuma victim so you both could go back to your calm nights and favorite foods in bulk. As usual for you and the kwami.

~~~~~

“RB?” Kuro shouted, making her way down the vacant hallways. “Come on out! I heard you fighting like… five minutes ago?”

Kuro paused, looking around her and seeing how there was nothing and no one. The black cat cladded female had heard nothing but fighting moments before… but now it seemed as if Red Beetle and whoever he had been fighting were now talking things out.

An unlikely outcome knowing her more… rambunctious companion.

“Did he end up defeating this guy on his own?” Kuro sighed, seeing as if she can’t find RB or the Akuma, she could at least look for anyone who might still be trapped in the school.

Kuro walked around with ease in her step, eyes trying to catch on to if there were crowds of people outside. But alas, there appeared to be no one around… neither inside nor out. Maybe they had all left the school and found a safe place to hide? At least it looked like the majority of the people here had evacuated and gone further away, right? Was that why she wasn’t seeing anyone?

Kuro paused a moment, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. She needed to focus and psyching herself out that something bad had happened when she should have been here earlier was not going to help her find or solve this now.

“Hey.” Someone suddenly spoke, putting a hand on Kuro’s shoulder.

“Eep!” Kuro stiffened, her voice coming out a bit high pitched from the sudden noise and touch.

She whirled around, her fan aimed at the person who was standing directly behind her. Though now he was in front of her. Kuro blinked a few times, her mind processing who was before her and she slowly calmed down.

“RB come on…” Kuro huffed, putting her fan away. “You’re such an ass spooking me like that…”

Red Beetle shrugged. “Maybe you’re just an idiot…”

Kuro rolled her eyes, looking towards RB with a raised brow. RB caught onto her staring and stiffened himself. 

“What?” He spat.

“Where did you come from… and where is the Akuma?” Kuro rose her eyes, though something in her gut told her this was strange.

“Lost him… and unluckily found your sorry ass.” He scoffed, then turned his back to the cat heroine. “Come on… might as well get some use out of you with helping me find the Akuma…”

Kuro didn’t question his words and started to follow him right away. But while she knew his words were as authentic as they could get, it didn’t mean the person saying them was. Something about RB was off, and she knew it from the time they had spent together thus far.

Be it the Akuma was another mind controller or a face stealer, she didn’t know. What Kuro did know was that RB would never have approached her so calmly. RB was a good hero… but still saw her as someone who wasn’t his equal.

He would have screamed at her for taking so long… not calmly grab her shoulder. No… this wasn’t RB. And she had a feeling that while dangerous, this RB would lead her to the real one and the Akuma.

She couldn’t say anything for sure at this moment, but Kuro did know one thing. She knew it was often curiosity that killed the cat, and while she was more than curious right now… she hoped that the mere interest of where this would lead her, would not also be the reason to end her.

  
  



	15. Answered Questions and After Thoughts

Ch.15 - Answered Questions and After Thoughts

She knew this wasn’t going to end well should her guard drop even the slightest. After all, if this fake RB was trying to pull one over on her, Kuro had to assume that the real RB had been knocked out or worse.

And despite how much of an asshole her partner could be… Kuro didn’t wish for anything bad to happen to him. Which was why she was following the fake RB… so she could help the real one and then take the Akuma back.

“Where are we going?” Kuro asked, seeing RB turn his head to look at her.

“To the last place I saw the Akuma.” He spoke to her in a snark, but from how he carried himself, Kuro could only add more evidence to the pile.

Red Beetle walked with a deep and heavy stride, mixed perfectly with pride and ego. And while this RB did as well… the way he walked wasn’t heavy. It was light as if he was stepping on all those below him.

Red Beetle may walk like he’s high and mighty… but even Kuro knew he didn’t walk like he was stepping on people. Her eyes scanned the male before her, looking for anything else that might alert her, or catch her attention.

Faux-RB allowed Kuro to enter the room first. The door sliding closed as the pair entered. RB smirked, not believing how trusting and gullible Kuro truly was. After all… the faith in her partner would be what cost her the miraculous, like her partner.

“Now… let’s see if we can stop whoever’s doing this…” He chuckled, moving towards her quickly.

Little did the imposter know, Kuro had been patiently waiting. She breathed the phrase under her breath, throwing one hand towards RB as the other was pulled back. RB’s eyes were wide as she caught both his open hands in between her hand and her fan.

“Hello there, Akuma.” Kuro smirked and sent him a wink. “Mind sharing where the real RB is?”

“Damned cat…” he breathed, trying to pull away, but Kuro was much quicker and clever.

“Guess I’ll just have to take care of your Akuma then…” She breathed, shooting out her pulled back hand and letting it touch the fake miraculous on his hand.

The ring shattered upon a touch of the destructive power. Kuro waited patiently for the black butterfly to fly out and whoever this was to reveal themselves. Instead of a butterfly, however, someone formed out of the ring.

He was quick to sucker punch the Akuma victim and then land back by Kuro.

“Took you fucking long enough!!” The real Red Beetle shouted.

“You know… a thank you goes a long way…” Kuro breathed, looking towards the Akuma. “Anyway… what are we dealing with?”

“A damn copycat…” He breathed out, seeing the male regain his composure from where RB had struck him. “Don’t let him touch you when he looks like that either… turns you into whatever gives you power and copies it.”

“Well… let’s wrap this up quick then.” Kuro sighed. “I got less than five minutes.”

Red Beetle smirked. “I was thinking the same… had enough of this cheap knockoff.”

“You both seem so sure you’ll be able to defeat me…” The Akuma spoke, smirking. “Though I doubt you’ll be able to defeat the great Phantom Thief!”

A bright flash of yellow and suddenly, Kaminari's akumatized form was standing before the pair of heroes. Shooting off bolts of lighting, forcing Kuro and RB to dodge and shield themselves. Chargebolt didn’t stay for long though, and soon Jirou’s own akumatized version was here as well.

“I’m guessing he got Kaminari and Jirou before you?” Kuro spoke, sliding across to RB as he put up a firewall.

“Lucky us he didn’t get the asshole with the eyebags.” RB smirked. “Ready for the plan?”

Kuro nodded. “Four minutes and counting… so let’s hear it!”

RB used his grenade to get his Lucky Charm, smiling when he already knew how to use it. The ‘whack-a-mole’ hammer tossed to Kuro who caught it.

“You do have the damn power of destruction.” He pointed to Chargebolt. “You remember where the akumas were hiding?”

“Of course.” Kuro nodded. “I’ll free his other prisoners and then you can take care of Thief.

The black cat made easy work of breaking the headphones and charger again, thanks to RB’s support. And right as Kuro looked to be going for Phantom Thief's own guard item, a pocket watch, she slid under Phantom Thief.

“Got you!” Red Beetle shouted from behind the Akuma. “And say goodbye to your evildoing!”

The pocket watch was slammed to the ground, shattering between where Kaminari and Jirou were starting to come to. Phantom Thief dropped to his knees, returning to his usual form: Monoma Neito.

Kuro watched as RB completed purifying the Akuma, then going over to Monoma.

“Are you okay?” She asked, seeing Monoma look at her with a frown.

“Okay? I was just manipulated…” He scoffed, then looked towards Red Beetle. “And you! My chin still hurts from where you struck it!”

RB’s eye twitched. “Lucky for fucking you… I’m about to restore everything.”

Monoma rolled his eyes, looking to Kaminari and Jirou who were looking at him in surprise. Monoma instead headed towards the door, not saying another word.

“What a jerk.” Kuro sighed. “I wonder what made him so pissy to get Akumatized though?”

“More than likely something stupid…” Jirou spoke, as Kuro came over to help her.

“More than likely something about Class A… the dipshit…” RB grimaced and then heard the sounds of his own countdown getting closer to the end.

"You guys are true miracle workers.” Kaminari looked close to tears. “Always there to save the day when we need help.”

“Don’t make a damn habit of it…” Red Beetle pinched his temple.

His gaze shifted from the overly thankful Kaminari to Kuro, who was helping Jirou back up onto her feet. Kuro chatting lightly, despite how she was now down to her last minute. Red Beetle approached her, tapping his foot impatiently.

Kuro turned her head to him when Jirou said she was fine. She placed her hands on her hips, trying to copy his own stance. RB rose a brow, pointing to her necklace with one dot left.

“You gonna unmask yourself before me?” RB rolled his eyes.

“Not yet…” Kuro smirked. “Unless you really want to know~”

Red Beetle scoffed. “Like I’d be curious… anyway, before you go… how’d you know that damn copycat wasn’t actually me?”

Kuro thought a moment, soon having a smile come across her features. She pointed to RB a moment later, winking towards him.

“Simple.” She spoke in an airy tone. “I’ve always had an eye for the authentic ones. So… the counterfeit was easy to spot. Lucky for you… I prefer genuine ones.”

She turned on her heel but kept eye contact with the male. Slowly she closed her eyes and gave him a toothy grin before disappearing out an open window. He had yet to repair the damages… thus Kuro could easily escape through the broken mess that was Class 1-B’s classroom.

RB didn’t notice when his own miraculous dropped to two dots as he was stuck in his spot. The words shared by the catgirl seemed to have been played in a loop until he finally came out of it. Ready to fix this mess and end this day.

Only… it seemed that once all was said, done, and back to normal… the little parting words of Kuro had not finished being present in his head. And now, Bakugou would have to deal with it out of costume.

~~~~~

Plagg peered out the little opening in your school bag, seeing the selection of alluring cheeses before him. You giggled lightly, making sure to put both your headphones in before talking.

“I thought… maybe an ‘ _ I’m sorry _ ’ gift would help get this entire forgiveness conversation going.” You muttered, seeing the kwami point to one of the cheaper camemberts in the stocked fridge of the grocery store.

“Well… since we’re both sorry...” He spoke as you put the cheese into the small basket. “Could you pick up some disinfecting wipes in a nice scent? I want to clean your bag when we get home.”

You smiled gently, nodding and making your way to the cleaning supplies. A small silence drifting across the two of you, but you knew of what was poking you underneath your calm surface. And with both you and Plagg knowing things had to change… you wanted to ask him the questions you had always suppressed as to not invade Plagg’s own privacy.

“Hey, Plagg?” You spoke, looking between two kinds of wipes.

“Yeah?” He asked, poking his head out.

“What… is a kwami exactly?” You asked him, seeing his eyes widen.

“And… why did the miraculous revert back to its original state when I took it off this time? It’s never done that before… and I’ve taken it off to shower and change before. And you disappeared too, and… well… I guess I’m just really wanting to understand this entire… miraculous thing…”

Plagg sighed, not commenting on how happy he was that you didn’t pick an overwhelming scent, and instead focusing on the questions and topic at hand.

“If you’re asking those questions kid… then I guess it's time to tell you.”

Your eyes widened, and you nearly looked down at the kwami directly despite trying to make it look and seem like you were on a phone call with someone.

“Really? You’re going to tell me?”

“You like old things… and well, I’m one of the oldest things in the universe.” He smirked. “So I might as well share it with one of the few humans who haven’t forgotten the importance of the past.”

“Oh, this is so exciting! Should I take notes? Oh! This is like solving an unsolved mystery!” You bubbled, seeing Plagg shake his head from the corner of your eyes.

“Calm down, and you already know you can’t tell anyone!” Plagg scolded you lightly. “And… with your summer break starting… I think we’ll have plenty of time to talk about it.”

You blinked. That’s right.

Summer break.

It looked like you’d have plenty to do after all. Especially with the sudden news of your usually lazy and mysterious kwami… finally wanting to open up to you about all your had been questioning since he landed in your hands a month ago.

~~~~~

“Are you okay, Bakugou?” Tikki hovered above his bed, watching the male as he lay on his bed, looking off into the dead space between his bed and the ceiling.

He had been this way ever since he got home from school. Didn’t touch his phone, or homework, or even shout back at his mother twenty minutes ago when she said dinner would be ready in an hour.

Instead, Bakugou had not moved, looking to be in deep thought. Tikki had assumed it had been because of what happened with the latest Akuma, but now seeing as his cheeks were blooming red… she had a feeling her original guess wasn’t correct.

“Huh?” Bakugou blinked, finally starting to land back into reality at the sound of his kwami’s voice.

“I asked if you were okay…” Tikki muttered. “You’ve been staring off into space for nearly ninety minutes now. And… your face is really red.”

Bakugou’s lips pulled together into a thin and uncomfortable line, eyes looking away from Tikki as if not having any eye contact would make it so the conversation would not happen. Slowly he groaned, pushing himself upwards, now sitting in the center of his bed rather than laying on it.

“Baku-”

“I can’t get her stupid little statement out of my head…” He started, inhaling a staggering breath. “And then… it devolved into why… and… well… I figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” Tikki questioned him, knowing this was a big step if he was figuring out some relationship to whoever this ‘her’ was.

“The catgirl!” He called out suddenly, arms up in the air.

“Katsuki! Don’t yell! The neighbors complain enough!” His mother shouted, a volume much louder than his own.

“Shut up you old hag! I’m having a fucking emotional revelation!” He shouted back, trying to take the piss out of her and get her to shut up.

“If it's about the damn anger issues, then that’s nothing fucking new!” Mitsuki shouted back, a slight cackle heard from where she was cooking downstairs.

Bakugou grit his teeth, ready to shout back, but stopped when Tikki flew in front of his face. She looked a cross between impatient and supportive.

“You’re mom’s just teasing you! Leave her be!” Tikki tried to calm him down. “Now tell me what’s been on your mind. It's weird to see you in such a situation because you are such a quick decision-maker!”

Bakugou sucked on a breath, knowing it would be better if he just came out and said it. After all, Tikki was a faithful companion and she was wise due to her age… so telling her shouldn’t be this hard… especially since she was the one to bring it up in the first place.

“Remember what you told me the first time we fought with Kuro?” He breathed out, Tikki nodding.

“Of course. I said I thought you might like her.” Tikki spoke, seeing Bakugou close his eyes.

“Well… you were right.” He breathed out slowly, finally saying it, the feeling inside his chest when he thought of the catgirl making his heart thump.

It couldn’t be anything else… especially after what happened today. Because for the first time in his life… Bakugou Katsuki… felt like someone truly saw him for what he was, and not what people assumed him to be.

And the person who had… was Kuro. And now, his heart couldn’t get enough of the thought of her.


	16. Kwami Secrets and Classmate Wishes

Ch.16 - Kwami Secrets and Classmate Wishes

Summer break had officially started for the students of UA. And while most of class 1-A were out enjoying themselves, one, in particular, was enjoying how he could sleep for ten to twelve hours a night and then ghost his annoying classmates all day.

“Kirishima is asking if you want to go to the arcade.” Tikki mumbled as Bakugou finally rolled out of bed. “He says Kaminari thinks he can beat your high score.”

That seemed to catch his attention for the first time all week since break started. Suddenly Bakugou was throwing on his clothes and getting ready. Tikki chuckling softly, seeing as if his pride was on the line, Bakugou’s motivation to go and hang out was spiked through the roof.

“Fucking idiots… did they forget who always kicks their asses at video games?!” Bakugou growled, brushing his teeth viciously.

Tikki giggled, then remembering something as she watched her holder put his ring back on. The dark black ring matching perfectly with his attire and not raising any questions. Tikki floated over to Bakugou, resting on his shoulder.

“Oh! I’ve been meaning to tell you more about the miraculous and kwamis.” She spoke, Bakugou’s eyes widening.

“Really?” He genuinely seemed interested. “Well… about fucking time.”

Tikki sighed. “I had to make sure you were ready… and well, you’ve been ready for a while. I just didn’t think the time was right with school and everything.”

Bakugou smirked. “Well I’ll kick Dunce Face’s ass at video games this afternoon and then this evening you can tell me all about what the hell you and this ring are. Sound like a plan?”

Tikki nodded, quickly diving into Bakugou’s backpack. A moment later he put the bag on and ran out the door. His mother yelling in the background to not slam the door, but he was already long gone and didn’t care about her nagging.

Especially since this day was already looking to be quite in his favor.

Elsewhere in town, it seemed another kwami and holder pair seemed to be having that exact conversation right now. Inside the small broom closet office at the museum, door locked to make sure no one came in and interrupted what was being shared.

Your eyes were wide as Plagg delved more and more into his big tale. 

“Basically… Tikki, the kwami of creation, was the first kwami. She came into existence when the universe was created. And then, I came right after her. Creation and destruction go hand in hand after all.” Plagg nodded matter-of-factly. “Kwamis come to exist when a new idea comes into existence.”

“So… how did the miraculous come to exist then?” You asked, seeing as he hadn’t yet spoken of the miraculous in his origin tale.

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there.” Plagg scolded you lightly. “For a while, myself and the other kwamis all traveled the universe, but around 5000 years ago… a mage in China created the miraculous. 

Not only making us visible to people but also allowing us to interact with people for the first time. And then, the first holders of the miraculous were chosen, and so started a 5000-year-old tradition… or well, until we were sealed in a chamber and forgotten about for nearly a thousand years.”

“Sealed away?” You muttered, looking saddened by the thought of Plagg and the other kwamis having been forced away.

“It’s a long story… but the last keeper of the miraculous pretty much feared what would happen if a miraculous fell into the wrong hands. He was the last keeper… and so he buried us in his tomb along with him. And there we stayed… until someone came crawling through a hole last year.”

Your eyes widened. “Are you saying I disturbed an ancient resting site?!” 

Plagg watched in amusement as you freaked out over the possibilities of repercussions for disturbing a site that wasn’t supposed to be found, or have things taken from. Soon enough though, he floated over and landed on your head, making you stop.

“Would you relax.” Plagg sighed, shaking his head. “You didn’t disturb anything. That keeper was a total nutcase! He was too paranoid! And besides, it looks like this modern era thinks we're nothing more than a myth.”

“Well… nearly everyone.” You blinked, Plagg picking up on what you were speaking about.

“Monarch is a special case.” Plagg started to speak. “It’s not your fault he got the butterfly miraculous. If he knew what miraculous were truly capable of, it means he’s knowledgeable about history and lore…”

You smiled gently, taking the kwami off your head and then holding him in the palms of your hands. You gently poked Plagg in his stomach, causing him to let out a soft chuckle. Looks like your lazy kwami was a bit ticklish.

“Thanks, Plagg.” You smiled. “Can I ask you two more questions though?”

“Hmm?” Plagg pondered. “I’ll answer one for free, but the other is going to cost you.”

You laughed. “You’re lucky I was craving cheese myself today…”

You opened your lunch box, showing off the cheese, crackers, and grapes you had packed as your meal today. Plagg was practically drooling, but before he could dive in, you stopped him.

“Answers first… and then you’ll get your payment.” You wagged a finger at him.

“Alright alright! Hurry and give me your questions then!” Plagg was trying to hurry so he could eat.

“Okay… so… why did you disappear before and the miraculous shift back… and… what exactly does the butterfly miraculous do?”

Plagg inhaled slowly. You knew this would be something… important he was about to share.

“Kwamis and miraculous can only be used when someone wishes to use our power for means beyond what an average person is able to do… So in your case. You first activated my miraculous when you wanted to stop that friend of yours. So… I appeared to give you the power to do so.

Furthermore… when the human decides they no longer wish to use the kwami’s power, we are returned to the miraculous. So, I disappeared because you temporarily didn’t wish to use my powers any longer.”

“I’m so sorry… I didn’t-”

“I know you didn’t. But now you know.” Plagg smiled at you gently. “We’re gonna be stronger now though. Kuro will be hard to beat!”

You laughed at his encouragement. Your mind still hadn’t shifted though, and thus you pushed a little further.

“So… Monarch must have something he’s trying to accomplish and thus needed a kwami to do so.” You spoke, seeing Plagg nodded.

“I don’t know what it is… but he must be giving Nooroo a hard time.”

“Nooroo? Is that Monarch’s kwami?” You asked.

“Yes. Nooroo is the kwami of generosity. He gives his holder the ability to give someone a power temporarily.” Plagg crossed his arms. “Ironic since Monarch isn’t being generous for the benefit of others.”

“What’s he after then?” You asked.

“I’m guessing mine and Tikki’s miraculous.” Plagg sighed. “To put it simply… when someone wears both mine and Tikki’s miraculous at the same time… the holder has the power to destroy and recreate the universe itself.”

“Then we for sure can’t let Monarch get either you or Tikki.” You spoke with determination, opening your lunch. “Eat as much as you want.”

Plagg dove in happily as you thought further on his words. With a power like that… you could finally see why Monarch had tried to steal the set of miraculous. Lucky for you, it seemed having gotten bumped into, saved the world from whatever plot he was hoping to get done quickly.

Now, you and RB just had to make sure it didn’t happen ever.

A thundering knock came from the door to your little hideaway. Plagg flew into your small purse, as you put it on. Lesson learned now to never be far from your kwami or the miraculous he belonged to. You quickly adjusted your attire and then opened the door, looking towards the tall male who was standing outside.

“So you’re stuck in a closet now?” Your uncle smiled.

“I like to think of it as a miniature office!” You declared, seeing Dolion roll his eyes.

“Pretty sure the janitor is waiting to get inside.” He teased you.

“So mean!” You pretend to be struck by something in your chest dramatically. “What did you need though, uncle?”

“Well, I don’t need you.” He spoke, gesturing to the museum lobby behind him. “But there’s someone here saying they know you and were hoping to see the ‘closed’ exhibit.”

“Oh.” You blinked, moving towards the lobby and then turned back to your uncle quickly. “Thanks for the heads up! And are we still on for the language lessons tonight?”

“If you think your Latin isn’t rusty, then I could use the help translating.” Your uncle winked towards you.

“I can’t be that rusty. I did have the best language tutor growing up!” You shouted, quickly entering the lobby.

“Stroking my ego will definitely get you some praise!” Your uncle laughed, moving back towards the new office your mother had given him. He smiled to himself, letting out a little joyful chuckle. “Crazy kid…”

You were put in high spirits yourself from your little chat with your uncle, looking to see who exactly had requested you by name. And soon enough you got your answer when you saw who was standing and waiting nervously in the lobby of the museum.

“Midoriya-kun?” You blinked, surprised to see him and then looking towards the person next to him. “And Todoroki-kun too.”

Both males waved to you, Todoroki much calmer than Midoriya, who looked to be a nervous wreck for some reason. His hands holding onto a notebook and pen as if he was about to write the greatest novel of all time.

“What brings you both to the museum today?” You asked, happy to see some familiar faces on your summer break for the first time.

“Midoriya.” Todoroki turned to his friend. “Ask her.”

Midoriya stiffened and then looked at you with a terrified smile. “R-right! I-I was wondering if… if it was possible for you to get us into the Chinese Jewelry exhibit and-and maybe give us a tour and share the history and lore of the miraculous!”

He suddenly bowed to you, causing you to let out a laugh. He was too nervous, but from what you saw, Midoriya often was a nervous and mumbling mess around girls. Maybe he just was afraid of talking to them… or afraid of girls in general. Or… talking.

“No need to be nervous, Midoriya-kun.” You snapped your fingers. “I don’t mind at all! Plus, seeing as you guys aren’t the first to come asking for a tour, I should be fair and let all my classmates who want to see them have a proper tour!”

“Someone came before us?” Todoroki rose a brow.

“Yeah. Bakugou came a few weeks ago.” You commented, motioning for the pair to follow you. “He needed that paper to be finished, so he wrote it on the miraculous.”

“Of course Kacchan was smart enough to ask you…” Midoriya whined. “I ended up writing mine about Japanese art from the 1500’s.”

“That’s still pretty cool!” You clapped your hands together. “What about you Todoroki-kun, what brought you to the museum today?”

“Midoriya was going out. His mother was at work… so I thought it would be weird for me to stay at his house alone.”

“Todoroki-kun… you’ve been living at my house for nearly two months… you’re welcome to stay there alone if you didn’t want to come.” Midoriya frowned, feeling as if his friend felt obligated to come.

“I never said I didn’t want to come.” Todoroki shrugged, eyes glancing towards you quickly. “The museum does have things I like and wanted to see again.”

“Oh, that’s great!” You beamed, smiling towards the pairs of males. “Now follow me! We have a tour to begin!”

It seemed you were oblivious to lots of things today. Whether it be Todoroki’s obvious flirt towards you that even Midoriya could pick up on. Or that fact that you had yet to question why Midoriya wanted to see the miraculous in the first place.

But the green-haired male had ideas of his own he wanted to investigate, as well as sketches inside his notebook of a childhood dream that had never left him. And now, you might be giving him more hope then he needed as you started to tell him about the lore of miraculous.

And while you made sure not to share the valuable information Plagg had just shared with you… the myths of what miraculous were believed to do… was enough for the green-haired male to feel his chest beat with ideas and hope for his dream to possibly come true.


	17. Partners and Crushes

Ch.17 - Partners and Crushes

The sounds of the city below were echoed heavily from this high up, even the lights below looked to be dulled from the darkness that clung above. The wind was much more present as well, making the ash-blonde locks of the male move with the air, but luckily not get in his face.

“Fancy meeting you here.” The feminine voice spoke out of the silence, a touch of humor in her voice.

Red Beetle sighed, turning his head to spy the female making her way across the scarlet beams towards the male. Her feet making sure to avoid the wet spots from where the rain had come down heavily in the afternoon. The days of summer fading into autumn quicker than either would have liked, but alas after a month off… school was going to start again soon.

“Took you long enough.” RB sighed, seeing Kuro take a seat near him as she sat down. 

Her eyes were fixated on the city as well, the reflecting colors of the illuminated city making her skin look to be various shades of green. Meanwhile, his skin looked pink and truly was the longer he let his gaze linger on her.

Kuro laughed. “Well, I’m not in costume all day. I do have a life and a part-time job to do, along with school and hero work.”

RB shrugged, not really caring much about her excuses. He had called her out here for a reason, and near the top of Tokyo Tower away from prying eyes and people listening in on them… gave him a chance to talk further about what he wanted to tell her for the last couple of weeks.

There had been a few Akuma attacks between Monoma and now, but every time he wanted to speak with her… it seemed either his or her time was short and they had to leave each other’s presence before he was ready.

But now… with no Akumas today, unlike two days before, he had a chance to speak to her. Counting himself lucky she had decided to transform tonight for whatever reason and thus get his message through whatever magical reason. Perhaps something to ask Tikki about… but not right now.

“What did you need anyway?” Kuro asked, passing the small note towards him. “Also… had no idea we could send messages to one another… maybe we can harass Monarch with that ability!”

“Idiot! Does your kwami tell you nothing!” RB shouted, scoffing lightly. “I was only able to do that 'cause I know you! I have no idea what Monarch fucking looks like, so I can’t send him shit.”

Kuro shrugged. “Well… looks like my joke didn’t go over with you. And don’t assume my kwami is lazy all the time. He gets around to things… eventually.”

RB rolled his eyes, moving onto what he had wanted to talk about for a while now. Kuro noticed his shuffling and then looked at what he was holding up to her. A newspaper, a rare item in today’s time… but then again, she could see why he had gone through the trouble of showing her.

‘ _ Museum Director blames Red Beetle and Kuro for the Theft of his Jewels. _ ’

“Well… we’re fucking wanted criminals now.” He scoffed, not believing how this was happening.

Kuro didn’t say anything for a moment after he spoke, her eyes attached to one of the lines written in the inner part of the article. ‘ _ Chinese Jewelry exhibit to close down and investigation in the jewels is to begin by the director and his staff as well as the authorities _ .’

She spoke after another moment of silence. “I can’t blame the director and his staff. After all… it's almost too coincidental to think that the theft of jewels believed to grant powers and that the emergence of us and Monarch are not connected…”

“So… the fuck do we do?” RB asked, not questioning why he wanted her opinion on this.

Damn crush… making him want to know and value her opinion a little bit.

“I think we keep doing what we’re doing. Go about the rumor that we’re beings sealed inside the miraculous rather than two humans using them to fight Monarch.” She sighed, looking a bit worried. “That way… we can stop someone else possibly getting and using a miraculous.”

“It sounds like you’re assuming the assholes at the museum are not trying themselves.”

Kuro beamed, looking rather proud of herself. “Well, my dear buggyboy~ I happen to have a trusted ally on the inside. She said she’d keep an eye on things and alert me if something was going south.”

RB snorted. “Wow… guess you’re not totally fucking worthless then.”

Kuro rolled her eyes. “I’d make for a fine partner if someone wanted me to be that to them.”

“Takes an idiot to not realize she’s already being seen as that.” RB clicked his tongue, seeing Kuro light up before he really realized the weight of his words.

“Wait seriously!” Kuro pressed closer to him. “You see me as your partner finally? Since when? What was it that did it?”

RB’s face deepened from a pink into a red, seeing as she was getting much too close for his comfort or his sanity when he was trying to figure out how exactly to act around her now that he was… almost head over heels for her.

He couldn’t help it though… his hero loving heart seemed to be slated on falling for the heroic girl who was willingly to give him time to adjust and see her worth than force him right away. She… got him and now he couldn’t shake her presence from his heart.

Though… he could shake her away from him at this moment, literally.

So jumping up onto his feet and backing away, Red Beetle started his little rant, now seeing that she was getting on his nerves from her closeness and eagerness.

“Would you quit it!” He shouted, seeing her cover her mouth and muffle her laugh at his reaction. “Give people fucking personal space, damn cat!”

“But cats never do that!” Kuro spoke, laughing happily. “Personal space to cats is an empty space needing to be occupied! So… if you’re not willing to tell me right now what it was that made you see me as your equal finally… then I’ll let it slide. But… don’t think that the next time we meet will be any different!”

Kuro started to dangerously walk around the edges of the metal tower, one leg lifted high and then the other as the wind seemed to keep picking up. RB watching her as she smiled to herself.

“I’m gonna find out… just you wait, RB.” Kuro flashed him a joyful wink, her happiness seeming to be uncageable at this moment.

And all because he had shared something with her he didn’t know he had let slip until it did. In the next moment, she was waving goodbye to him, saying she’d be in touch. Taking her fan and propelling herself away.

RB watched with eyes glued onto her, the object of his affections… was just as much of a mystery as this entire situation he found himself in. Though… he had never been one to back down from a challenge or question that bugged him.

And like Kuro’s own promise to find out why he saw her as an equal, he promised to further try to understand this longing and affection towards her. After all… he couldn’t let her upstage him when it came to detective work.

~~~~~

“Would you classify that as a date?” Plagg asked, winking at you as you made your way up the stairs.

The station was empty, seeing as it was late and any rational person wouldn’t go outside on a day where it poured down rain. But, you wanted to take the train home, especially seeing as Kuro might not be positive on the public eye right now.

“You are such a little tease.” You chuckled towards your kwami.

“What can I say, Kuro gets her sense of humor from me.” Plagg spoke, opening the cheese box you kept for him (you gave him a daily ration and then he could decide when he ate it. But once it was gone, then it was gone for good for the rest of the day.) and then deciding to relax in your bag.

You were left to your thoughts, trying to further figure out what your father had been thinking. Blaming the people who had saved people… but then again, if it was you, maybe you’d think the same. After all… with three jewels stolen and now three superpowered beings out there… it was only a matter of time until your father put the two together.

You had only wished he didn’t come out and say what he did. But you had a plan… and while it would take time to make… you knew that the miraculous would be safe with you by then. Until it was ready to put into motion though, you’d have to try to delay this entire research period. 

Plagg didn’t seem worried though. He said that the miraculous only activated for the greater good or for a certain phrase that had been lost to history. A phrase not even kwamis knew but was used to check the state of miraculous and see if they were damaged long ago.

What… you and Plagg assumed Monarch had dug up and used to activate his own. And now… poor Nooroo was at his mercy from the forced activation of his miraculous.

But for you… the question that lingered the most was… why the butterfly miraculous?

After all… the ladybug and black cat were the most powerful. And yet… Monarch ditched the pair for the butterfly, and now decided to try and get them back?

The only logical conclusion you could come to… was that in the haste to steal and escape… he couldn’t tell the difference between the dark purple, black, and dark red jewels and thus had grabbed all three.

Only to drop the two he was looking for in the scuffle… and end up with the butterfly.

The timing made sense as well… seeing as between the time Kaminari got akumatized in your father’s office and then started attacking in the cafeteria… Kaminari would have had to go back through the exhibit and check the scene out and see if the jewels had been dropped.

When Monarch had seen they had been picked up… that was when he really let Kaminari’s anger and worries take the reigns… resulting in the battle that had occurred.

As the train arrived and you boarded, you could only conclude one thing…

Monarch would no doubt use this new situation to his advantage… but neither you nor RB would stop just because of a little false press. After all… you’ve both saved lots of people thus far. And by no means would you give up Plagg or his miraculous.

Not just because the combined use of the two would grant the user an ultimate world and reality changing power… but because heroes didn’t give up no matter what was thrown at them.

But to you personally… the happiness that came from being Kuro with Plagg and fighting alongside the gruff, but trustworthy Red Beetle was enough of a reason to keep fighting for what you believed in.

You had no doubt in your mind that RB felt the same and wouldn’t give up. The two of you would see this through to the end… and then would give up the powers once all was restored to normal.

No plan of Monarch’s would stop you, that much you were certain of.

Little did you know though… that Monarch’s latest scheme… would be his greatest yet. And now… he just had to wait for the perfect moment to put it into place. After all… the best way to kill a hero was to kill the idea that they were a hero.

So… he just needed the perfect actor to get the job done, and he already had one in mind. So now… it was a game of patience until he could witness the downfall of Kuro and Red Beetle.


	18. Crushed Dreams and New Schemes

Ch.18 - Crushed Dreams and New Schemes

Weren’t superheroes supposed to be loved by the public and praised for their good deeds?

Red Beetle grumbled as another older woman attempted to hit him with her purse, yelling at him all sorts of accusations she no doubt had read online and not fact-checked. All the while, Kuro was trying to convince her child who had gotten himself stuck up a tree to come to her so she could get him down.

Now, all that would make this situation worse would be if she turned into an actual cat and got herself stuck up there as well. 

“You thief! You need to return that jewel right away! Just because you made a deal with the devil to attain those powers doesn’t mean you're above the law and regular God-fearing people!” The woman yelled, smacking him rather harshly in the knee.

“For fuck’s sake lady!” RB yelled, trying to hold back his urge to throttle her. “I’m the reason why this entire city isn’t electrocuted, or deaf, or under mind control… or at least five other emotional idiots!”

The woman seemed to not allow his words to enter her head… aside from a certain one. And thus, her lecture turned into a harsh yelling of how he needed to not use such vulgar words. RB ready to just tell Kuro to leave her shitty kid up in the tree.

But it seemed that at least in this situation, Kuro was making more progress. As, before RB could truly blow up, she had landed down. The child running out of her arms and to his mother in the next moment. Tears in his eyes, and looking at Kuro as if she had said the word the beetle hero had said.

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” The woman was on high alert. “What did these… delinquents do to you?”

“The cat said that if you and I didn’t respect them… she’d curse us.” He looked terrified.

RB rose a brow, looking at Kuro. She rose her fingers up, moving them in a pathetic attempt to look spooky. The woman blocking her child from her as if fearing the cat heroine was about to reveal she was secretly aligned with Monarch this entire time.

“That’s right~ For the blatant disrespect towards myself and Red Beetle… the spirits of the miraculous that had been freed and now seek to return our butterfly brother back… I curse you both!” Kuro spoke with a dead monotone.

“H-H-How dare you!” The woman cried, trying to comfort her crying child.

“Then apologize for what you called us.” Kuro warned, and then noticed the sight of two police officers making a run towards them. “Actually… don’t. RB and I need to go.”

In the next moment, the two had hopped away, avoiding a possible interaction with the police. As it was clear… the pair had gone from heroic legends to now Japan’s most wanted. Looks like a certain museum curator was trying his hardest to get his missing jewels back and had started to succeed in making the pair of heroes into public enemies.

“Well… this sucks.” Kuro sighed, laying down on the roof of the building the pair were resting on. 

“It would help if you quit trying to fucking curse people.” RB’s eye twitched, looking to the cat. “You’re giving people the wrong fucking impression… and our image is ruined enough right now.”

Kuro nodded. “Yeah you’re right. I just got really annoyed… like did that woman seriously hit you? That’s uncalled for.”

RB shrugged. “Old hag… that annoying brat of hers is gonna grow up to be a fucking nightmare.”

Kuro snorted, trying to cover her chuckles. RB looking at her, trying not to let his heart flutter. But how could it not?  _ He _ made  _ her _ laugh! Something he could rarely do because his humor was so dark and slightly controversial.

“Entitled parents and kids are the worst… but you handled yourself well, RB.” Kuro smiled, sitting up and giving him a thumbs up.

“I’ve dealt with plenty of annoying people… you learn to just ignore ‘em after a while. Or make it clear you want nothing to do with them.” He shrugged.

“Well… you have more of a backbone than me.” Kuro shrugged. “I always try to please everyone. Anyway, before we possibly reveal anything about each other that could threaten our identities, I’m gonna take my leave.”

Red Beetle lifted up an eyebrow. “Seriously? Wasn’t it your fucking idea to do these patrols to try and show people we’re on their side?”

Kuro shrugged. “What can I say… it was fine for the last few weeks… but school starts up again for me tomorrow. And, I should sleep as much as I can tonight. I’m restless at night and can’t sleep in till noon comes tomorrow.”

“You talk way too fucking much.” RB shrugged but waved her off. “But whatever… school starts up for me again tomorrow as well… guess I should get back home sooner as well.”

“Alright then.” Kuro waved. “I’ll see you lat-”

“Wait!” Someone spoke, causing both Kuro and RB to jump from the shock of someone else arriving on the rooftop. 

RB’s eyes dropped into a low glare as someone climbed up from the fire escape stairs and onto the roof. Notebook in hand and green eyes wide and full of wonder. He looked as if he had just chased them down and didn’t want to miss his chance right when he had just caught up.

_ Deku… _

“Midoriya Izuku?” Kuro blinked, seeing the green-haired male light up that Kuro remembered his name.

“Oh! You remember me! That's great!” He seemed pretty happy.

Kuro chuckled awkwardly. “Well… when Shinsou was akumatized, I kinda shoved you into a locker and then you proceeded to introduce yourself to me. So… kinda a hard moment to forget.”

“W-well since you know me… then you must know that I have no intention of calling the police on either of you! After all… you’re both heroes and more people need to see that!” He spoke with high regard for the honor and image of the heroes before him.

“Awe, that’s super sweet of you Midoriya.” Kuro smiled. “It’s nice to have a break from the norm…”

Midoriya nodded. “W-well… I also wanted to ask you both something. Something that I promise I’ll keep to myself, since I think I figured it out.”

Kuro blinked, looking to RB. He had been strangely quiet. Only looking with an intense glare in the direction of the green-haired male. Well, if he wasn’t going to speak, she would.

“What are you talking about, Midoriya?” Kuro sounded unsure of things suddenly.

“W-well… you both claim to be spirits of the miraculous… but that’s not true, is it? You two… are regular people who were granted powers by the jewels instead, right?” Midoriya spoke, Kuro’s eyes widening.

It seemed that the first person to take the lore that had been presented at the exhibit and put it into a sense of reality aside from those who held an actual miraculous… was Midoriya. And Kuro couldn’t help but want to kick herself since she had been the one to tell him of these myths and thus get the ball rolling.

“I-I won’t tell anyone!” Midoriya waved his hands back and forth. “I-I know that information getting out would put the other miraculous at risk! But…”

He looked unsure of himself. But after a moment and a short bout of courage, Midoriya finally confessed what had been on his mind and occupying his desires for so long.

“But! I want to help both of you!” He called out. “I-I know a lot about heroes and can help take down Monarch if you’d want me to! Plus… I’m sure if I can get over my fear of public speaking… I can even get the people to come onto your side.”

A moment of silence passing. Kuro looking away from the hero supporter with a frown. She knew he meant well and only wanted to help… but, it would be reckless to try and take another miraculous and put it into the open.

“Midoriya… listen-” Kuro started, but it seemed someone had finally had enough.

“You?” RB laughed. “You think we want you on our fucking team?”

Red Beetle shook his head. “Get real, you damn loser.”

He stepped forward, towering in front of Midoriya. The green-haired male looking terrified and wide-eyed at the hero who was now looking about ready to kill him.

“You’re just some heroic wannabee. Just because you like heroes and follow us around all the fucking time… doesn’t mean you have any worth in becoming one. 

I’ll give you this… yeah, we’re real fucking people. But guess what, unlike you, I was worthy of holding a miraculous. I was chosen cause I have fucking merit. And cat girl was chosen for something similar to that.

But you? You can’t even save yourself when a damn situation arrives! All you do is hold us back. So get this through your head you worthless nerd- you will never and won’t ever hold or wear a miraculous. You won’t ever be a superhero… and you won’t ever be my or the damn cat’s friend.

You’re nothing more than an annoying thorn in our side. And we have more important things to fucking do than try and remove you.”

Red Beetle clicked his tongue, turning on his heel and started to walk away. He hadn’t called the loser Deku, so the magic identity protection was still up. Meaning he could harass the useless piece of shit and he’d be none the wiser that he was Bakugou underneath the mask.

“RB!” Kuro called, looking over to him with horror in her eyes. “That was way uncalled for!”

He didn’t listen to her any longer though, as in the next moment he was gone. Leaping off roof to roof and heading back to wherever his home was. Kuro looked on in disappointment, especially since this was the first time she was genuinely disgusted by the actions and words of her partner.

Immediately turning her attention over to Midoriya and coming closer. He looked beyond upset, to the point where tears were starting to come from his eyes. She paused, unsure of what to do. While it was true she was getting better at socializing and talking… comforting someone and making them feel better, was another level she was not even ready to face yet.

But… she couldn’t leave him like this. 

“Midoriya…” Kuro started. “I-I’m so sorry. I have no idea what possessed him to say all those terrible things.”

Midoriya shook his head. “It’s okay… I had a feeling this would be the case. I know… I don’t have many talents or skills. I barely got into the gifted program at UA… so I guess I should have been expecting this.”

He started to walk away. “Thanks though, Kuro… you’re a real hero trying to comfort me. But it's fine… I needed the dose of reality.”

Kuro watched as Midoriya slowly climbed down the fire escape once more. Feeling as useless as Midoriya no doubt believed himself to be. Leaving once she saw him starting to walk down the street himself and head towards his home.

Why was she so subpar in these situations? Was she even worthy of this power… when she couldn’t even help those who weren’t being manipulated by Monarch?

She didn’t know… but she knew she had to clear her head. As these thoughts would not help her in the long run.

Unaware that elsewhere in the city, Monarch himself had detected what he had been hoping for. The stress of RB and Kuro seemed to have finally come to fruition. As someone… was holding quite a powerful amount of negative emotions. And now… all he had to do was send out one of his little butterflies.

But this time… he’d let the capable akuma take his time… knowing this one, in particular, would create a plan that had a high success rate. After all… when you come to realize that not only your heroes based in both reality and fantasy become flawed… one starts to picture if they were heroes, to begin with.


	19. Classroom Rumors and a New Hero

Ch.19 - Classroom Rumors and a New Hero

There was muttering among his class when the ash-blonde arrived that morning. Everyone gathered together around a few desks, looking to be in deep discussion about something they had deemed important. Bakugou only rolled his eyes, feeling glad he at least wouldn’t be bothered since everyone was so engrossed in something or another.

“Did he really say that to you?” Uraraka’s eyes were wide.

“Why would Midoriya lie?” Kirishima spoke, supporting the green-haired male.

“Plus… its not like Red Beetle hasn’t been giving everyone the feeling that he really doesn’t want to save or help out…” Jirou huffed, the mentioning of a certain hero catching Bakugou’s ear.

“...Kuro was always the much nicer of the two.” Kaminari spoke quietly. “I had at first assumed it was ‘cause RB was just a little rough around the edges… but if he said that, then I can’t make up any excuses for him.”

“Sounds like a hero with an ego trip and no respect for the feelings of those he saves or actually support him.” Todoroki spoke, looking towards Midoriya with a frown. “Are you feeling alright, Midoriya?”

The green-haired male chuckled softly. “I’m dealing with it… thanks for everyone’s support though. It means a lot.”

Everyone nodded slowly, the conversation continuing onto whatever this hatefest was. Bakugou’s eyes narrowing, seeing as he hadn’t expected the nerd to outright share this… Deku had never been one to vocalize his insecurities and conflicts outright.

But seeing as this was the year the nerd got friends… looks like he was relying on them for moral support after RB had dished him a dose of reality he needed to hear.

Footsteps came near, and soon a few pieces of paper were being placed on his desk. Carmine eyes looking up to see the museum girl passing back graded assignments. It was her week as the teacher’s aid, and thus she had to pass back these sheets before class started.

“Morning, Bakugou-san.” You smiled gently, pink on your cheeks.

Bakugou huffed, ignoring how the feeling in his chest when he was around you, was similar to the one he got from Kuro. But, he knew the girl he liked… and if it was a choice between the nerdy museum girl and the heroic and super-powered Kuro… he was going to go with the girl who had gotten him to see her as an equal.

No matter what the museum girl did to his chest and heart… he knew that in the end, the only one he wanted to give it to, was Kuro, Thus… it was time to push aside these other feelings, so he could focus on what truly mattered to him.

“Be better if all the losers in this class shut up about some shitty Deku gossip…” He breathed out, seeing you raise a brow at him. “What?”

“Did you not hear?” You spoke, seeming to be surprised he was out of the loop.

“Hear what?” Bakugou spoke back to you.

“Midoriya got harassed by Red Beetle yesterday… and it seems like everyone’s jumped onto the bandwagon of thinking he’s inadequate to be a hero if he treats people so poorly.”

“Maybe he’s just fucking sick of people not being able to deal with their own bullshit properly?” Bakugou spoke back to you.

You hummed. “Perhaps… and while I still think he’s doing a good job, I do think him showing he does care about the public would help him in the long run.”

“What gives you the right to give any sort of advice to RB?” Bakugou looked to be getting a bit agitated, you were unaware that it was because he felt like he was getting constantly criticized by people who didn’t truly know him… unlike his partner.

“As someone whose family has suffered first hand from the loss of the miraculous, it's easy to blame Red Beetle and Kuro for it as my father has done… but, I also know that if someone is putting themselves out there to help people, they can’t be entirely bad. And I think for RB… while his motive is pure, the way he acts is what rubs people the wrong way.

He’s a good hero… but he needs to be a good person as well.” You spoke, moving away to finish handing out the items, leaving Bakugou to, in shock, mull over the words and if they had any sort of merit to them.

~~~~~

“School’s boring… why do humans even go?” Plagg asked you as you finished changing, this time opting for the clip-on tie instead of struggling again.

“You know… I don’t have an answer.” You shrugged. “I was educated by professors and explorers and learned a lot hands-on. So I think school itself is to gain social skills, so… I can see why my mom wanted me to go.”

Plagg chuckled and dove into your spacious pocket, taking a piece of cheese with him. “Humans have weird ways of making friends.”

You laughed at his remark before diving out the door, knowing your shift started five minutes ago. You were in charge of the front desk today, which meant you’d be directing confused people towards exhibits. At least it would give you time to finish the homework for Yamada-sensei’s class.

However, your attention was snagged by the appearance of your father and uncle seeming to be in an argument about something in the Chinese Jewelry exhibit. You paused, trying to see if it would be appropriate for you to enter. The pair hardly fought… so this was new.

Slowly you walked in the room, both immediately taking notice of you and ceased their little argument. By then you could care less about whatever they had been talking about, seeing that the room was devoid of all the materials that had once been in it that morning.

“What’s going on?” You blinked, looking at your father with a confused expression.

“I’ve moved the miraculous and grimoire to the storage area below. That way no one else will be tempted to steal them…”

“You can’t be serious, dad!” You looked upset. “The public deserves to see all of the jewels as much as you and I!”

“They’ll be able to see them again once we have our set completed again.” Your father spoke with disdain in his voice. “And when these ridiculous rumors about the stones granting you power ceases…”

He walked away a moment later, leaving you with your uncle. The man sighing besides you, looking towards his niece with apologetic eyes. 

“Sorry kid… but he’s just not listening to anyone.” Dolion muttered. “Myself, you, and your mother… no one can get through to him. He’s just… suddenly decided it's for the best to keep the stuff in the basement.”

“Why though? The miraculous have been missing for two months… why put them away now?” You spoke with a frown on your features.

Your uncle sighed. “Truthfully…?”

“Of course truthfully!” You stomped your foot.

Dolion cracked a smile. “Well… you certainly have your father’s low patience when you're left out of something.”

“Uncle stop beating around the bush!” You whined, the man nodding.

“Okay! Okay!” He chuckled, but then turned serious as he ran a hand over his face. “These last few months, since Kuro and Red Beetle appeared fighting supervillains… people have associated the powers with the miraculous. We stopped ten people this week alone trying to take them… so, your father’s stress over losing another precious artifact… finally made him jump the gun.”

“I-I didn’t know… are people really making that assumption?” You spoke, starting to realize how possible it was for copycat heroes to try and take miraculous for themselves.

“Seeing as we lost another one this morning… I’d say yes.” Your uncle spoke, moving to follow your father. “I’ve been trying to calm him down… but with another one missing, he’s not taking it well.”

You blinked as your uncle ran off. Only a certain phrase passing through your head over and over again.

_ Another miraculous… was missing? _

~~~~~

If there was one thing he hated… it was people blowing up his phone with vague messages. So when his partner had done the equivalent through his miraculous, Red Beetle was less than thrilled.

But even so, if she was freaking out over something… then he should at least give her some benefit of the doubt. She hardly freaked out, even when shit was hitting the fan. So maybe there was some merit.

Though… he had his own problems to deal with. Like what that shitty nerd was telling everyone about him. Complete and utter bullshit…

He eventually found Kuro, the cat pacing back and forth along some rooftop. RB jumping down and making her dash over to him. She certainly wasn’t even giving a moment to exchange greetings it seemed, not that he cared. He just wanted to know if he should give a damn.

“This is bad Beetle!” Kuro looked to be in a panic! “Bad! So bad! As bad as my power! Like… a total destructive event!”

“The hell are you rambling about?” RB sighed, not liking how she was so consumed into whatever she deemed worrisome.

“My museum informant! She contacted me a few hours ago… and told me that someone took one of the dormant miraculous! And as a result… the curator packed the entire exhibit up and is not allowing anyone to see it.”

RB’s eyes widened. “You mean… the grimoire… the thing that explains our powers and the others… is not reachable now.”

Kuro nodded her head. RB continuing.

“The other dormant miraculous your informant has been keeping an eye on. She can’t watch anymore.”

Another nod.

“And to top it off… some moron took a miraculous and could accidentally activate it if his will and desire are strong enough… or if he knows the manual activation?”

Kuro frantically shook her head, seeing a similar look of panic cross RB’s face.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?!” He roared Kuro stomping her foot.

“Don’t you dare start with me!” She called back. “You’re still on thin ice after that stunt you pulled yesterday! You acting like an ass is hurting the trust people have in us! So don’t put this blame on me when you’ve been ghosting me!”

She huffed and then turned her head suddenly to the sounds of someone screaming from down below. RB didn’t look right away, shocked that his own partner was upset with him about the same thing his classmates were.

Fuck… was what he did really that bad?

No! It wasn’t! Everyone was just sensitive and unwilling to accept reality! That was what it was! 

“Crap…” Kuro breathed, taking out her fan. “Let’s take a five minutes break… we got a purse snatcher.”

She jumped off a moment later, RB not far behind her. The pair following the thief into a dark alley. He knew they were tailing from the sounds of footsteps and the calls of who they were from their own mouths.

So focused on losing the pair who behind him, the thief failed to notice someone jumping out from a portal before him. Slamming his fist into the thief’s chest and sending him backward. The sounds of a body hitting the brick wall and the sudden appearance of yet another powered hero making Kuro and RB stop in their tracks.

“Nice try… but you won’t be stealing anything tonight.” The mystery hero spoke, his hand lighting up green for a moment and then jabbing the male once more.

The thief fell into a stiff paralysis after, the hero letting out a sigh and picking up the purse. He smiled to himself, looking pleased that he managed to save the purse. 

Red Beetle and Kuro paused as the new hero finished tying up the purse snatcher. Turning his head to look at the pair, eyes of emeralds and hair of a similar shade finally looking towards the already well known hero duo.

“Oh… were you going after him as well?” He sheepishly rubbed his locks. “Sorry… guess I didn’t know.”

He stepped forward slowly. Kuro and RB both looking for what they suspected to be on him. And sure enough… placed in his hand and twirling it softly was a pen with a jeweled crystal on the top… the same shade of emerald green as on his features.

No doubt… that was a miraculous.

“Red Beetle and Kuro right?” The male spoke happily. “It’s nice to meet you both in person!”

Kuro glanced at RB slowly, seeing him sink his teeth into his lips. He was no doubt feeling threatened, something about this male making him feel threatened. But Kuro knew better… and knew that even if this male had stolen a miraculous… there was a chance he wanted to do good as well.

Sure he took the jewel and it was making her family life enter an unsecured period. But… this hero had jumped in front of someone with a gun to get a mere purse back and then apologized to those who he knew were heroes already.

He wasn’t putting out any vibes that would alert her, and thus, Kuro had made a decision. Friendly but careful steps… to let the new hero know she wasn’t totally on board, but willing to hear him out.

She slowly reached out her hand, knowing she’d test this new hero and see if he was the real genuine deal or not.

“Kuro. And you are?” She spoke, watching as the male confidently took her hand and shook it.

“Ah that’s right I need a hero name.” He chuckled, pausing a moment. “Well… I guess you could just… call me Deku.”

  
  



	20. Shifting Loyalties and Changing Leads

Ch. 20 - Shifting Loyalties and Changing Leads

  
  


There was no way…. Not in a million fucking years.

Red Beetle grit his teeth together harshly, watching as the green-haired male before him laughed a little awkwardly. Kuro was just as unsure, but he watched with shocked eyes as she clapped her hands together.

“W-well, this was unexpected… but thank you so much for your help, Deku.” She nodded towards him, flashing the new hero a smile.

“It wasn’t a problem at all.” Deku shrugged. “I just thought that having another hero around would help make people more safe feeling.”

“If you don’t mind me asking though…” Kuro shuffled a little awkwardly, hand in her messy locks. “What miraculous do you have?”

“Oh, actually my miraculous is the guardian miraculous.” Deku smiled, holding out his pen for the two to see. “It gives me the power to use the abilities of other miraculous so long as they are safe in good hands.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” Kuro bubbled. “I had no idea that there was a miraculous with that power!”

“Yeah, I can pretty much use all the powers aside from three.” Deku smiled, looking towards RB. “I guess those three aren’t very safe right now… so I wanted to make sure they weren’t in the wrong hands.”

“Why you little fucking shit…” RB stormed forward. “You were the one who stole it, didn’t you?!”

He was ready to throttle the loser. After all… there was only one person who would call themselves Deku… and the mere thought of this asshole having powers was driving RB up the wall.

“Time out.” Kuro grabbed RB’s arm. “Sorry, Deku. Give us a second.”

“O-oh. Sure.” Deku nodded, watching as the two heroes walked away from him.

Once a safe distance away, and making sure Deku couldn’t hear, but could still see them, Kuro finally let RB go and looked at him with an unimpressed gaze. RB clicked his tongue, not liking how she was being so difficult right now.

“What has been going on with you lately?” Kuro started. “I know you’ve always been a little vulgar, but you are acting like someone who’s beyond violent. First harassing Midoriya and now trying to start a fight with this… Deku! RB… what’s going on?”

He rolled his eyes. “Wrong? What’s wrong is that you’re fucking getting all chummy with some asshole who more than likely stole that miraculous! And are also a big enough imbecile to not know that’s Midoriya!”

Kuro blinked. “How… do you know it's Midoriya?”

RB shrugged, knowing if he were to say ‘Deku’ it would cancel out the identity magic he had. Kuro would just have to not question him. That was for the best.

“Can’t you just listen! I’m telling you what to do!”

Kuro huffed. “I thought we were partners! And can’t you trust my judgment? I know something is off about Deku… but, I’m going to investigate before we suddenly decide to brawl with him. For all we know… Midoriya wanted to prove you wrong, and show he could be a hero. And thus… here he is.”

RB grit his teeth. “I don’t need to investigate shit! He’s a damn thief… and I’m taking that miraculous back!”

He stepped forward, looking to no longer wish to discuss this further. Kuro watched with shocked eyes before suddenly grabbing her fan and pointing it towards him. RB froze, seeing that she was actually in a fighting stance.

“Are you serious?” He shook his head. “You’re not going to listen? You’re going to side with him…”

Red Beetle’s hand itched near one of his grenades. He could encase her into a firewall box right now and take care of this. He was right. She was wrong. And if she wasn’t going to see logic, no matter if he had feelings for her or not… then she needed to be put out of the way until he proved he was right and she saw that she should never doubt his judgment.

Because he was never wrong. And he never did anything wrong.

“RB… I don’t want to fight.” Kuro urged him. “But we need to start thinking things through to find out more about Monarch… we can’t lose what might be a possible lead. Or… the slim chance of a possible ally.”

RB’s eyes caught sight of Deku started to approach, seeming to have noticed the standoff. He looked ready to assist Kuro, seeing as he was now standing and watching her back.

RB scoffed, turning and looking out towards the city.

“Fine… I see how things are.” RB spoke with a harshness Kuro had never heard before. “And I see how fucking stupid it was to think you were good enough to be my equal…”

Kuro’s chest tightened, but she refused to say anything back to him. Instead, watching RB jump off and away. The partnership that had just started budding being pulled viciously out of the ground, tearing its roots.

Well then… if Red Beetle refused to do this with her… she’d do it herself. And… if Deku truly was just a new ally, who got powers by questionable means… then maybe, he’d be a better partner than the volatile Beetle who just couldn’t seem to decide on what exactly they were to one another.

~~~~~

“Detransformation.” Red Beetle spoke, watching as his costume faded off.

The red kwami landing with a small ‘oof’ on her holder’s shoulder. Tikki shook her head, looking for the sweet she had become used to getting right after Bakugou was done being Red Beetle for that time.

Instead, she was picked up and placed into his bag. The male not even saying anything as he started to thunder out of the alleyway and down the street. Tikki poked her head out weakly, feeling utterly exhausted.

“B-Bakugou… do you have anything for me to eat?” She asked him meekly, sensing something was really bothering him, but she desperately needed to re-energize herself with a little food.

Bakugou paused, blinking. He reached into his pocket, taking out a fun-sized KitKat bar and handed it to the little Kwami. Tikki gleefully accepted it, unwrapping the sweet and breaking it in half. Apparently humans had a sacred way of eating these candies, and thus, she wanted to make sure she was following their custom of breaking the bars in half rather than just taking a bite out of it.

After a few moments and Bakugou’s rage becoming enough for the kwami to feel it herself, Tikki slowly started to speak to him. Bakugou was known to be a rather… ‘emotional’ person, but he looked as if he was ready to blow up. Something was… really bothering him. Enough to make him not even apologize as he shoved rudely past people as he got onto the train.

Tikki waited until there were less people around, and once she could see through the opened bag pocket that Bakugou was walking in the residential area that was his neighborhood, she finally spoke to him.

“Bakugou… what’s bothering you?” She squeaked, freezing as the male’s gaze hit her.

Bakugou’s carmine hues were that of a heatwave, and sent Tikki into a startled silence as he showed her just how much he was brewing on the inside with what had happened.

“Bothering me?!” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Let’s make a damn list, huh Tikki?!”

He rose a finger up. “Fucking Deku’s been ruining my reputation as Red Beetle! Deku somehow has a fucking miraculous! Catgirl wants to go along with it and let him join our team! That asshole museum curator is trying to make me out to be a criminal. Monarch is nowhere closer to being fucking caught or found out. And to top it all off! Catgirl decided to go with Deku over me! She’d rather listen to him 'cause that loser can’t be blunt and tell people the fucking reality of their situations!”

Bakugou’s pent up aggressions seemed to have reached the boiling point, as in the next moment he swung his fist. The skin colliding with a wooden phone line, the thud echoing through the once quiet neighborhood. Bakugou inhaled sharply, pulling his hand away and gritting his teeth.

Tikki frowned, finally coming out of the little bag and landing on her holder’s hand, careful to avoid landing on the red parts of his hand. Bakugou grimaced, trying to not let the pain make this any worse. He grabbed Tikki rather roughly, but not enough to hurt her, placing the kwami on the fence of some neighbor’s house who was never home.

Tikki watched as Bakugou began to relentlessly strike the phone pole over and over again. Only stopping when his knuckles were sore and the red liquid his hands were drenched in started to become hard to grip thanks to the slipperiness of the blood.

Bakugou huffed, inhaling sharply again, only this time… he let out a painful hiccup. One Tikki could tell wasn’t because he had sliced open his hands in a few places thanks to the scratches and splinters.

“Fuck…” He choked out. “I’m doing everything fucking right… so why the hell are people never fucking happy!!”

Tikki frowned, finally floating off the fence and coming close to the boy. She touched his nose gently, giving it a little kiss. Bakugou’s eyes widening at her small display of affection, but then looking off, not wanting to be pitied by his kwami.

“Are you doing what you think is right? Or what others would think is right?” She asked him softly. “Because… I think we both know there is a big difference between how you handle things, and how people think you should.”

Bakugou sunk his teeth into his lip, fist-shaking the feeling of drying blood making his hand feel restricted. Tikki sighed gently, giving the ash-blonde boy a soft and sincere smile.

“I know it's hard… you have your own idea of how to do things. But… sometimes you need to act in a way to make those around you feel safe and comfortable.”

“So you’re saying I have to pretend to be someone fucking else?” Bakugou choked out, a flare of resistance still in him

“No… not exactly.” Tikki looked away slightly. “What I’m saying is… maybe let me help with Red Beetle’s personality a little.”

Bakugou blinked, confused by this statement. “Huh? What do you mean… Red Beetle, is me… isn’t he?”

Tikki shook her head softly. “Not quite. In fact… when a human and a kwami transform together, they also fuse personalities in some ways. The human still retains most of the control, but the kwami is also able to influence the human… and thus, some personality traits might differ.”

Tikki inhaled slowly. “For example… from Kuro’s personality alone, I can tell she gets her more easy-going and humorous side from her kwami. I have a feeling that her non-hero persona has a difficult time trying to act like herself for the judgment of others. Plagg… could care less, thus allows Kuro to freely express herself with little to no worries.”

“So… what about me?” Bakugou breathed out. “You’re saying… I haven’t been doing that either?”

“Yes and no…” Tikki muttered. “You accepted Kuro’s help and partnership a lot quicker because of me… but that was in the subconscious of Red Beetle… as for his personality… it's been hard to try and have any say as your own personality is really strong and practically unbreakable.”

Tikki smiled sweetly. “I think that’s why Monarch hasn’t been able to Akumatize you, despite how negative your emotions are… because it's a front for how you are underneath. Monarch prays on the weakness that has taken over outwardly in the form of negative emotions… and you, are not drowning in sorrow like those who have been victims.”

Bakugou chuckled lightly. “So… you’re saying I’m too tough to bend to his will?”

“The toughest.” Tikki nodded, glad to see him starting to come out of this.

“Yeah…” Bakugou nodded, wiping away the tears that had been brimming but never broken on his eyes. “I guess… I should go and find that catgirl and shitty Deku…”

Tikki nodded again. “It would be good to make up with her and show you really are serious about helping people. As for Midoriya though…” 

Bakugou rose a brow. “What about him?”

“To put it simply… kwamis are able to tell when a miraculous become active. And well...now that you’re out of costume… and I’m here again.” Tikki inhaled. “There are no more activate miraculous aside from the three we already knew about.”

Bakugou’s eyes widened. “You’re fucking telling me that nerd isn’t a holder… but he instead got akumatized.”

“You… did say some bad things to him.” Tikki looked upset. “Enough for poor Midoriya to want to prove you wrong and show he’s a better hero than you.”

Bakugou grit his teeth. “And now that he’s done so… he’s gonna do what Monarch wants him to do. And I left Kuro by herself with the weak loser-”

“Bakugou, we’re trying to instill a sense of comfort into others remember.” Tikki scolded him lightly.

“Fine…” He rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go save that cat, show her we can be the best damn hero ever, and save shitty Deku from his own feelings."   
  


Tikki nodded slowly, waiting patiently for her holder to mutter the two words needed to transform. This time having a feeling… Red Beetle would be somewhat different than what everyone had seen of him before.

  
  



	21. Old Rivalries and New Mindsets

Ch.21 - Old Rivalries and New Mindsets

  
  


_ (AN- FYI, since some of the miraculous are WAY overpowered and mess with the canon ML lore, I’ll be either changing or fixing some of the powers to make it less OP and more even to the other miraculous. Thanks for understanding) _

  
  


Kuro lead the way, having told Deku the lie that she was going to walk him through a usual nightly patrol. The chatter between the two having died down, and she wondered what exactly Midoriya was thinking.

She got her answer soon enough… as Midoriya began to speak.

“So… why do you follow Red Beetle?” He asked, seeing Kuro chuckle lightly.

“I know what you’re thinking, and especially after the fight we just had… but RB is a good hero under it all. He wants to do good, but just can’t be sure how to make himself seem genuine about it.”

Deku stopped moving, making Kuro pause and look back at him as well.

“Well… I don’t think he’s worthy of being a hero.” Deku breathed. “I don’t know why some high power chose him… and what pathetic rationale you follow… Red Beetle is a disgrace of a hero. And… I’m going to make sure to change exactly who gets to be a hero.”

Kuro watched with curious eyes as Midoriya clicked his pen. The green color shifting to yellow. Kuro’s mouth opening, ready to try and talk him out of this mindset. But it was too late. And as Kuro realized Red Beetle had been right, she could no longer fight back.

“Venom!” Deku called suddenly, jabbing Kuro in her chest.

Instantly, Kuro couldn’t feel her body. She was frozen in place, only able to watch as Midoriya slowly reached down and took her miraculous into his hands. Ready to follow through with what he had just told her about.

Deku paused, looking down at the black necklace in his hands. He frowned, looking back towards Kuro, as a purple butterfly mask suddenly appeared. Kuro watching and listening as best she could, knowing that this may be it for her.

“I know… but, Kuro hasn’t done anything to me…” Deku’s eyes held onto guilt. “Doesn’t it… make me the villain by taking her miraculous?”

In the next moment, Kuro witnessed Deku’s hand suddenly grip her necklace and start to pull it up towards her head. Deku’s face contorted into a painful expression as his hand and arm moved in an unnatural fashion.

“S-stop… I’ll do what you say.” Deku begged. “J-just let me control my body again…   
  


Kuro’s reaction remained as it had, but now her mind was spinning. Monarch was able to control the bodies of those he affected like a puppet? And despite the power given to him and the anger in his heart… Midoriya was still in there, fighting to do the right thing.

If only she could talk… Kuro could try to reason with him. But as it stood right now, with her paralyzed and her miraculous starting to pass by her eyes… this was it. She was about to lose it all.

“Get your filthy hands off her!” An angry voice screamed and then suddenly Deku was thrown off Kuro.

Her necklace falling back onto her chest, safe for now. Red Beetle stepping between her and the Akuma victim. His eyes glaring daggers at Deku, knowing that if the ash-blonde had been even a second later, Kuro would have lost her miraculous.

“Looks like I get to beat you up after all…” RB venomed. “And now I won’t feel bad after what you did to the catgirl.”

Deku smirked, standing up. “Looks like you are a lot smarter than I thought… though, I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve.”

Deku clicked his pen, the colors of it changing into a brown color. RB positioned himself, ready to fight back with all he had. The ash-blonde male bolted forward, ready to toss Deku a new one, only for the green-haired male to disappear a moment later.

“Horse miraculous… the power to teleport!” Deku cried, appearing behind RB suddenly and kicking him in the chest.

RB inhaled sharply, watching as Deku clicked his pen again. This time an orange color.

“Fox miraculous… the power to create illusions.” He spoke, as suddenly a dozen more of him appeared.

“Fucking show off…” RB breathed, noticing something that caught his eye.

Kuro was looking at him, and he heard the message loud and clear. It looks like… despite the number of powers he had… Deku didn’t have much control over them. Nor did he realize that once he switched off the Bee miraculous, it had freed Kuro from her standstill.

“So… you can copy all those lame-ass miraculous.” RB chuckled, standing up and looking ready to duke it out again. “But you can’t use mine, huh?”

Deku’s eyes narrowed as he clicked the pen again. “Well… once I take yours I’ll be able to do plenty with it. But for now… let’s see what kind of allies my illusions and I can create with the peacock miraculous.”

“Like you could…” Red Beetle chuckled as a very powerful gust of wind suddenly picked up. 

Deku and his illusion clones all turned around, seeing Kuro was using her fan to blow away his copies like the dust clouds they were. And then she was using her own speed and the wind to sail through the space between her and Deku.

Her hand grabbing the pen and stealing it as she called out her power. The object turning into dust a second later. RB was already on the purification by the time the butterfly came out. And soon enough… Midoriya was freed.

Kuro slowly picked up the pen that had been dropped by her feet. The item restored to its normal state. She clicked it a few times, eyes watching as Midoriya slowly started to come back to. She hummed, starting to walk closer to the male, wanting to make sure he was okay after what had happened.

“Give it.” Red Beetle spoke, snatching the pen out of her hand and then storming over to Midoriya himself.

Kuro watched with wide eyes, worried that this was about to become another situation where someone would be able to get Akumatized. But then again… from the look RB had given her earlier… she knew to give him some sort of benefit of the doubt. After all… something about him was much different than before. He did trust and listen to her this time after all… so, something was definitely different.

And Kuro could only assume it was that Red Beetle was finally ready to start truly showing how golden his heart was.

“Here.” The ash-blonde male spoke, holding out the pen towards Midoriya.

The green-haired male squeaked softly, slowly reaching out and taking his pen back. He had a vague idea of what had happened, and had a feeling RB’s opinion of him and the possibility of becoming a hero… was not going to be any better, if not worse.

“Alright… listen.” Red Beetle sighed. “What I said last time wasn’t fucking acceptable.”

Midoriya blinked. Was Red Beetle… the foul-mouthed, grumpy hero… apologizing?

“I shouldn’t have said the shit I did… you seem like the type to give a big shit about this stuff. But… you have to realize, following us and trying to become a hero like us… isn’t rational. We can’t give out miraculous, because they could be dangerous to not only you but others if a bunch of them are active.

But… if you’re that fucking serious about helping us… then you can help us with non-Akuma shit. You seem like a nerd who is resourceful… so put that to use. And then come and mutter about what you came up with the next time we see each other, got me?”

Midoriya blinked twice and then nodded his head. “O-of course, Red Beetle. I-I’m sorry for causing you and Kuro so much trouble. So… I promise I’ll think of something that will benefit both of you! Just you wait and see!”

Midoriya’s eyes were glittering with passion and drive, but Kuro knew she had to ask one final question. The one thing that had been bothering her… and she hoped that Midoriya could answer it.

“Midoriya.” Kuro approached quickly. “Midoriya I know you were just deakumatized… but please… do you know what happened to the miraculous that just went missing?”

Midoriya blinked, looking up to the catgirl and removing his hand from his head. Slowly the green-haired male seemed to try and concentrate. Eyes closed and focused, and his lip was bitten even a tiny bit as if he was trying to force the fuzzy memories to appear clear.

“I-I don’t know…” Midoriya breathed out. “I was… I was only supposed to be a distraction.”

Kuro blinked, looking towards her partner. Red Beetle seemed to be just as intrigued by this news. He uncrossed his arms, looking towards the male he had worked up the guts to apologize to and even try to be on better terms with. Tikki’s own influence, for once making it easy for him to act on what was needed and not be blinded by his ego.

“A distraction for what?” RB spoke, trying to not sound cold.

Midoriya shook his head. “I’m not sure… from what I remember, all Monarch ever said was for me to just keep the both of you distracted enough for him do something… of his own.”

Kuro sighed, looking disheartened that this day and the situation with Monarch was not getting any better. After so many defeated Akumas and saving so many people… they were still no closer to finding out exactly what Monarch was trying to accomplish.

And despite how the heroic duo were back on good terms with not only each other but their biggest supporter, it seemed that this day couldn’t be seen as a victory for either. In fact… today, was a step in the wrong direction overall.

~~~~~

After that ominous ending to the battle… Kuro excused herself. RB was quick to follow, trying not to go back on everything he did when Midoriya said he wished them luck. Like he needed that nerd’s kind words of support…

Though he hoped at least now, things would start to go back to normal… or at least with the other extras in his class who should be praising him again. Red Beetle sighed, jumping onto a ledge that overlooked a local park. He was high enough up to have one last look of the city before he turned back. The fire escape nearby providing the way for him to get back down to the street and head to the nearest station in order to get home.

His eyes scanned the park, looking out and spotting something odd in his eye. A female was resting on a bench, looking up towards the moon. Her black-clad attire and cat-like design making the red hero realize who he had spotted. It looked like Kuro was enjoying the peace of the park for one last time before she headed off herself.

Only… that’s what RB had assumed. As in the next moment, his eyes caught the gleam of black and green light. A small black creature flying out and landing in the hands of a female. The girl laughed softly, her voice far enough away from him to barely hear it.

Red Beetle's eyes widening when he realized that he knew Kuro… or rather that he knew who she was underneath it. The same outfit she had been wearing before, that UA uniform with a terribly tied tie, and that bag of hers she fussed over way too much.

Now watching as she gently put her kwami into her bag and then heading off. Off through the empty park, where she had assumed it would be a good place to transform back, as no one was around to see her.

But as it turns out… someone had caught her. And now he knew who she was and couldn’t help but duck and cover behind a wall on the roof. His breathing picking up quickly as the connect was being set in stone between the two females who had turned out to be the same female.

He definitely wasn’t supposed to see that… but now he had.

And now… he definitely knew that Kuro was (Name).

  
  
  
  



	22. Promises and Clarity

Ch.22 - Promises and Clarity

“Welcome home Katsu-”

Masaru barely had time to finish before his son had slammed the front door, rushed up the stairs, and then slammed the door to his own room. The older man letting out a sigh as his wife shouted at their son to not break anything less he be paying for it. It seemed whatever mystery activity their child had been getting up to as of late didn’t end too well this last week.

“Little shit…” Mitsuki shook her head, going back to her magazine.

“Mitsuki be nice.” Masaru smirked lightly. “He does take after you, after all.”

Masaru couldn’t help but chuckle at the death glare he got from his wife the moment afterward, but even so, he couldn’t help but pat himself on the back. He may be the quieter of the three, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t be a little sassy as well.

As his parents continued their small teasing contest of one another, Bakugou was absorbed into his own love life. Tikki was sitting on the desk, munching on some strawberry pocky as Bakugou was shuffling back and forth.

His mind was still racing from what he had seen, the equation was completed, but he had no idea how he got his answer.

Kuro, the heroic cat girl was none other than the museum girl from class. And to make matters worse… he couldn’t even recall her real name at this exact moment. Some romantic he was. Especially seeing as he couldn’t waltz up to her and ask what her name was after so many interactions or flat out call her Kuro.

And this was just scraping the surface of what his true problem was.

That he clearly wasn’t supposed to see her transform back. She had gone into a park that was empty and had no one inside for the exact reason to not be seen. But because he chose the high ground, he managed to see her transform back.

Bakugou roughly gripped his hair with his hands, bunching it up and letting out a long and annoyed scream, though he kept it inside to not make either of his nosy parents investigate further.

“Bakugou?” Tikki floated by as the male collapsed onto his bed and buried his face into the pillow, more disgruntled noises coming from him.

Tikki looked at him with worry. “Bakugou… are you upset it was (Name)?”

His ears perked up at Tikki’s statement. One because he was for sure committing her name to memory now, but also because… Tikki sounded as if she knew this statement beforehand.

“Did you know, Tikki?!” He harshly whispered teeth gritted together.

Tikki sighed, floating away from him. While she was more than willing to talk to him about this and try to at least put him on more stable ground again after this accidental reveal of sorts… Tikki also knew that when dealing with this holder, especially when he got like this, it was best if she showed her unhappiness with him and let him cool himself down before engaging further.

Bakugou was quick to realize this as well. Picking himself up from the bed, and going towards Tikki who was now sitting on his windowsill. Bakugou grabbed his desk chair, scooting it over and looking at the red kwami with unsure eyes.

“... I shouldn’t have…” He inhaled, no doubt unsure of how apologies worked. “...spoken rudely to you…”

It wasn’t perfect… but it was a start for the boy who was just now learning how to treat people better. So this was a good start, and she appreciated his efforts. Tikki sighed, looking over to the boy who was now tapping his fingers against the desk in a way to contain his uncertainty and wound-up emotional state right now.

“I-I may have accidentally found out who Kuro was a few months ago… and Kuro’s kwami found out who you were…” Tikki finally admitted, glad to finally get this off her chest.

“When?!” Bakugou rose his voice a little, shocked that Tikki had known for so long.

Tikki sighed. “You remember when Shinsou got akumatized?”

“Who?” Bakugou deadpanned.

“The one who could mind control others…” Tikki mentally noted the next thing she’d try to work with him on would be the names of those around him.

“Yeah… why?” Bakugou responded.

“Well…” Tikki cleared her throat, getting ready to dive into the story.

~~~~~

Tikki poked her head out of the school bag as soon as the sounds of struggling and fearful shouts stopped. What had just happened? And where did Bakugou and the others go?

Was there another akuma? And if so… she needed to get back to Bakugou and soon so she could transform into Red Beetle with him. But… where did he go? She needed to find-

“Oh! Hey Sugar Cube!” A familiar voice always using that slightly annoying nickname spoke, making Tikki turn in the direction of the voice.

“Plagg?” Tikki blinked, seeing the black kwami poking his head out of another bag a table or two away from where he was.

“The one and only!” He floated out of his bag and towards her. “Fancy meeting you here Sugar Cube. Guess this means our holders both go to this school. And judging by the name written on the notebooks inside the bag with you… I think I know who your new holder is!”

Tikki gasped, trying to cover the name of her holder, knowing how dangerous it could be for kwamis to know one another’s holders. But then again… this was Plagg. The lazy cat would at most just try to blackmail her for food.

“Say… you got any food in there? I’m starving!” 

Typical.

“No, I don’t!” Tikki lied, and then floated out of Bakugou’s bag. “And I don’t have time to play your games Plagg… I need to find my holder.”

“Why?” Plagg shrugged, instead going towards someone’s lunch left on the table and started to help himself. “Those kids will get out of this themselves. My holder is a real Indiana Jones, so I’m not worried.”

“Indiana Jones?” Tikki muttered, too much time left inactive making her unaware of how much the world had changed. 

“He’s this cool adventurer guy. And my holder is just like him!” Plagg smirked towards Tikki. “We should watch those movies together sometime, Sugar Cube… it's been forever since we’ve seen one another.”

Ignoring Plagg’s other statements, Tikki focused on the part that had caught her attention. Plagg’s owner was like this Indiana guy… so she was an...

Adventurer… that meant Plagg’s holder was (Name)... 

“Do you really have no concern for keeping your holder’s identity a secret, Plagg?” Tikki got a little upset at the black kwami’s lack of care for his holder.

“I have plenty of concern!” Plagg rose up. “I just also know you and your holder are no threat.”

Tikki puffed out her cheeks, about to say something else back when she heard the sounds of rapid running down the hallway. Immediately both kwamis dove back into the bags of their holders.

One final glance at each other letting one another know… this little sudden meeting would stay between them. As… it wasn’t a kwami’s place to mention such things to a holder unless asked about.

~~~~~

Bakugou let out a soft groan, laying back into his chair. The wheels carrying him away from Tikki as he laid back in the chair and tried to let this all sink in.

He was crushing on (Name)...

Kuro was (Name).

And he wasn’t supposed to find any of this out.

“So… what now?” Bakugou sighed, looking towards Tikki who was frowning slightly.

“Well…” Tikki inhaled slowly. “You’re not going to like it…”

Bakugou sat up straight again, looking at Tikki with wide eyes. What exactly was she about to say? If she knew he wouldn’t like it… then it must really be bad. And he wasn’t sure how much more emotional angst and uncertainty he could take.

“You can’t say anything to (Name),” Tikki spoke, watching Bakugou’s eyes widen.

“Why the hell not?” Bakugou was now on his feet. “Wouldn’t it be better if we knew who the other was and could watch out and cause distractions so the other can transform and all that shit?”

Tikki nodded. “I know there would be more benefits than negatives… but the negatives really do outweigh the goods…”

Tikki’s eyes watered slightly, and Bakugou calmed down. This was something deeper… he could tell. 

“Tikki… is there a reason why kwamis keep the identities of their holders a secret from everyone, even other kwamis?” Bakugou gently asked her to share.

Tikki nodded. “Years ago… and one of the main causes of why the miraculous were buried… was because the last holders Plagg and I had… killed each other.”

Bakugou stunned into silence. But Tikki pressed on.

“Plagg’s last holder wasn’t a good person.” Tikki whimpered. “And when he found out who my last holder was… he used Plagg’s power to kill her. If it wasn’t for the last guardian of the miraculous taking Plagg back through a fierce battle… then we may have lost him.”

Tikki sniffled slightly, memories of the holder before Bakugou still strong. “The kwamis decided at that point to keep it a secret… no sharing unless the situation called for it. And well, as you can see, Plagg decided to share with me… and then a force outside us kwamis shared with you… but even so, please Bakugou… keep this between the three of us.”

Bakugou didn’t like it… the idea of leaving (Name) out of something so important. But… he also couldn’t help but feel like from how Tikki spoke and how she seemed so disturbed by the events before now… he couldn’t say no.

And so… he reluctantly agreed to this. Despite his better judgment telling him otherwise.

~~~~~

The following day at school, everything seemed to be back to normal. Midoriya, while leaving out the part about being akumatized, as he was too embarrassed, mentioned how Red Beetle had made up with him. And now, the green haired male was looking for a way to get a good word out about the heroes who were being given a bad light.

Everyone seemed pretty absorbed into brainstorming, thus it left Bakugou to brew over what to do when he saw you. Tikki’s words from last night reminding him that he couldn’t reveal himself prematurely… and right now was exactly that.

His eyes followed you as you walked around the room handing back graded sheets of paper. It was still your week to be on classroom helper duty. So at least, you were so absorbed in your work that you didn’t notice the number of times he stole glances at you.

However… it seemed that now that he was paying attention to you… Bakugou also saw for the first time something else he had been blinded to. And that was the half-and-half bastard.

Lucky bastard happened to be partnered with you this week, and it all became too clear that the half-and-half was liking something beyond doing chores for their lazy headroom teacher.

Todoroki looked to be close, too close to you. The way he would touch your arm when you asked him something. How he smiled when you chatted happily with him. And how… his own mismatched eyes would steal glances at you when you were busy like Bakugou had been doing.

Bakugou grit his teeth, seeing how now that he was aware of who exactly you were… he was also much more aware of any potential rivals… and it all became too clear to him that Todoroki was now a rival in more than grades and who was the more gifted student.

He was a rival for your heart as well… and that didn’t sit well with him.

But even more so… Bakugou was left in brewing anger at how he didn’t know for once in his life what to do to show off more and catch your eye over Todoroki who had clearly already started to move in on your heart.

And that’s what bothered him the most… because he was clueless in love. And Bakugou… never liked the feeling of being less than anyone… in anything.

  
  
  



	23. Love Rivals and Building Feelings

Ch.23 - Love Rivals and Building Feelings

If there was one thing he really didn’t like to do… it was spend his Saturdays off with the annoying shits from his class he saw five other days of the week. But, things had changed and despite his better judgment saying nothing was going to happen… when he heard what two specific people would be going to this class meeting up, his lovesick heart seemed to force him out of bed and towards the destination.

Fall was in full swing now, and as such, it seemed his classmates were trying to do a final few group things outside before the winter came in another few short months. As such, it seemed today’s weekend adventure would be to an amusement park. At least he’d be able to scream a few times today on the rides to get his annoyances out.

“Woah! Bakugou came?!” Kaminari was shocked as the ash-blonde approached the group waiting for a few late classmates.

“I guess Christmas miracles do exist…” Mina laughed slightly.

“It’s September, Mina-chan.” Tsuyu looked at her friend.

“I love the holidays… what can I say?” Mina laughed a little embarrassed, seeing as she was called out for her excitement for the winter months.

“Glad you could make it man!” Kirishima dragged the conversation back to what it was on. 

Bakugou huffed, looking around and seeing the usual suspects: Deku and his gang, his own group of idiots… at least it wasn’t all nineteen of the others. He could deal with this smaller amount. Hopefully.

“Sorry, I’m late!” Your voice hollered from a bit away, pausing before the group to catch your breath. “Train got delayed 'cause someone dropped their phone on the tracks at the station…”

“Did they get their phone back?” Kaminari asked you.

“Yeah, and lots of angry looks from commuters trying to head into work.” You laughed a little.

“(Name)-chan!” Mina hollered, embracing you as if its been years since she last saw you.

“M-Mina. Air!” You laughed happily, returning the embrace but not as much as Mina, seeing as you wanted her to breathe.

“This is going to be so much fun!” Mina hollered excitedly, seeing as everyone who had said they were coming plus Bakugou and Todoroki were here. “Now into the park, we go!”

She excitedly pushed you along with her. Grabbing Uraraka as well. The three of you happily skipping in, looking to be overflowing with happiness for today. The mood making everyone else seem to walk with a little more eagerness in their steps as well.

As everyone got into the park after paying for the cheap fall priced tickets, the conversation started to divulge into exactly where everyone should be going first, if they wanted to try to stick together or divide and conquer until lunch and possibly dinner if they were here that late. As the debate went on, Bakugou was hanging back.

He really didn’t care what happened, so long as he could talk to you a little bit today. That was his goal after all… to try and actually talk to you and not make a complete idiot of himself. 

“So why’d you decide to come?” Kirishima startled him slightly, appearing next to him. “I mean… you hardly ever come to our class trips?”

“None of your business.” Bakugou growled, eyes flickering between you and his feet.

He was both wanting to look at you but not let Kirishima on to that he had a crush. Because he knew Kirishima and knew he would not hear the end of it from the male… as the redhead was a bit too supportive at times for Bakugou’s liking.

“Awe come on man!” Kirishima looked to only get more interested from Bakugou’s verbal shrug off. “Do you have some manly secret?”

“I said to drop it…” Bakugou huffed, mind clicking onto a lie. “I’m only here cause you idiots decided to do something interesting for once.”

Kirishima nodded, seeming to believe it. Bakugou internally sighed. So far so good… and while he didn’t like saying half-truths, he didn’t want anyone to really find out about his crush on you… seeing as he still wasn’t sure what to do. And knowing Kirishima, despite how he’d be doing it from a place of support… Bakugou didn’t want or need any advice when it came to this… crush.

“So the rollercoaster then?” Tsuyu pointed to the largest one in the park. “We should start with the ones that will crowd up the most as the day goes on.”

“Sounds fun.” You smiled, not noticing the terrified faces of Tooru, Mina, and Uraraka.

That rollercoaster had a reputation of being the highest and the fastest in the nation… and it was clear that only those who had the balls to get on ever rode it. And now, it looked like peer pressure was pushing fourteen teenagers onto the ride together.

“This will be fun, right?” Uraraka whined as they waited in line.

“No one’s died on it.” Jirou shrugged. “So I think that’s a good sign.”

Slowly the group made it towards the front of the line. And lucky them, there looked to be seven cars all with double seats. So an entire coaster to themselves and saving any unknown person to the sounds of screams that were sure to come from the groups of teens who were about to embark on their adventure.

“Could I ride with you Tsuyu-chan?” Uraraka asked, the frog loving girl nodding.

“Midoriya, I have an open seat next to me! Please join me!” Iida called over the green-haired male who looked petrified.

“Kaminari move… Yao-Momo already agreed to ride with me.” Jirou kicked Kaminari out. The blonde sulking over and taking a seat next to Sero who laughed pitifully at Kaminari.

Tooru and Mina were situated happily in a middle seat, knowing this one would be the safest location. Leaving there to be two seats left open… one of which was next to you at the front of the coaster.

Bakugou started to walk forward nonchalantly, seeing as he could grow his lie of only wanting to go on rides by claiming he wanted to sit in the front seat. But as it turned out, someone else was after the seat beside you and was much more eager to grab it.

“Could I sit here?” Todoroki asked, and you nodded.

“Sure! Though… I have a habit of screaming a lot on rollercoasters. So I hope you don’t mind.” You rubbed your cheek a little bit.

“No issues here.” Todoroki smiled softly, taking a seat next to you and pulling the safety bar down.

Bakugou’s teeth grit together, a bit of anger pooling in his stomach. So… what he assumed in class had to be true. After all, even someone as blind as him seemed to be able to notice a few things… the first being how Todoroki looked at you in a way that the ash-blonde had a gut feeling was beyond friendliness. 

The second being how all the girls behind the pair looked to be a bit giddier at the idea of you and Todoroki next to one another. So… the others had noticed Todoroki’s feelings for you and were gently nudging it together. 

What a bunch of fucking assholes.

“Sir please take a seat.” An employee called out. “You’re holding up the line.”

Bakugou begrudgingly took the last seat next, and Kirishima seemed eager to ride this coaster with his close friend. Though the ride didn’t go as Kirishima pictured it, as Bakugou spent the entire time with his arms crossed and a foul look on his features.

He seemed in a foul mood, and despite wanting to ask if everything was okay… Kirishima knew better than to poke the wild animal that was Bakugou’s anger. And after all… with these akuma things going around, the last thing Kirishima needed on his consciousness was being the cause of turning Bakugou into some sort of villain. And thus, he let Bakugou brew through the entire rest of the afternoon.

Lunch had soon arrived and it seemed like everyone was fine eating at a food court. A large table meshed together from pulling a few smaller tables together. A few people sitting and waiting at the table as others went about getting their food.

At least if anything… his spicy ramen could help maybe take his mind off how you and that damn half-and-half was standing in line and chatting about who knows what while waiting for some burgers and fries.

Bakugou sighed, seeing as he had forgotten to grab a pair of chopsticks before eating his meal and thus rose from his seat again. He made his way to a small table that had the items. As he turned, he accidentally bumped right into you. Your meal falling onto the ground, and you as well.

But as it appeared, the bad luck God in your bag was countered by the good luck God in his own bag. It was like one of those scenes out of a movie, where one of his arms curled around you and then the other successfully grabbed the tray and caught the items without so much as spilling a single fry.

Bakugou inhaled slowly, ready to call you out from not looking where you were going. But when his eyes met yours, he was instead met with (eye color) hues that looked to have stars buried in them.

What… was this look for?

“Watch it… museum girl.” He husked, giving you your stuff back and sending you on your way.

You didn’t say anything, instead only nodding and trying to hide the red cheeks on your face. Going straight for Mina and starting to talk in hushed whispers Bakugou couldn’t hear. So distracted by what happened, the ash-blonde didn’t notice when Todoroki approached the same utensil and condiment table to get some ketchup.

It was silent for a moment between the two… until Todoroki spoke that was.

“You’ve been watching her all day…” The bi-colored male observed. 

“So what?” Bakugou snarked back.

“It’s just a bit odd to constantly stare at a classmate… especially with the look you’ve had on your face.”

Bakugou snarled. “Sounds like you were fucking watching me too, asshole.”

Todoroki shrugged. “More like I don’t know how (Name) couldn’t feel your gaze… it was burning a set of holes into my back the entire day.”

“Since when did you fucking decide to tell jokes? I thought you didn’t even understand them?”

Todoroki shrugged. “Iida and Midoriya have been helping me read social situations.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Of course those nerds have… but who gives a fuck?”

Todoroki was silent a moment, not sure to engage further with the volatile male, but then seemed to decide to throw caution to the wind and continue further.

“I’ve also gotten better at reading people… and I’m curious if I’ve read you right, Bakugou.” Todoroki narrowed his eyes, looking as if he was a bit defensive about his next question.

“Oh yeah? And what did you read about me, you wannabe fortune-teller?”

“Well, I wanted to know if you have feelings for her? It seems to me from all the staring and trying to get close to her that you might.” Todoroki spoke nonchalantly as if this wasn’t too big to him.

Bakugou huffed. “So what if I do? It's not like you’re any real competition to me, bastard.”

Todoroki hummed a little and then nodded to himself. “You’re talking as if you are the one making the decision… but isn’t it her choice who she decides she likes?”

Bakugou’s eyes narrowed, and despite how Todoroki was right… he wouldn’t admit it. Instead, the ash-blonde merely sucked his teeth and clicked his tongue. Todoroki grabbing the last of his things and moving back to the table.

He took a seat next to Midoriya and Iida, glancing one last time to Bakugou. The ash blonde’s inner flames ignited, reading that move as if Todoroki was giving him a handicap to this sudden battle.

But he didn’t need a handicap… because at the end of the day, he was going to win your heart and look on proudly as you picked him over that emotionless other option. After all… now that he had set his own heart on winning yours… he was sure he’d be able to pull it off.


	24. Escape Scenarios and Worst Cases

Ch.24 - Escape Scenarios and Worst Cases

He wasn’t sure how far his patience would go thanks to this crush. More so, he didn’t know how much longer he could go without giving in to the desire to strangle the person closest to him. If there was one reason he’d lose his mind, it would be locked in a room with some of his annoying classmates. And today… he had willingly let it happen.

Apparently the pink dyed hair girl thought it would be fun to spend this Saturday at some escape room, and a few other classmates had tagged along. There was his usual band of idiots: Kirishima, Kaminari, Mina and Sero. But there was also the group Kirishima had invited along for the sake of being friendly to their classmates. These other beings: Deku, the half-and-half, round face, frog lover, and four eyes. Then, of course, the girl in question he was putting up with this torture for. 

Escape rooms had a limit of eleven people… and he was lucky (though maybe it was more unlucky) that he got the final slot. And now, he was among his classmates who were looking over the next set of clues and seeing what the first step would be to escape.

The theme was a hotel room. And you needed to get out of the bedroom part of it and into the main room. From the main room you could work on escaping the room and exit into the lobby. But this was an escape room, so numerous clues that were way too over the top lined the room. And everyone aside from him seemed super gung-ho on solving it.

The line ‘let’s try to win for us’ repeated several times. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. If they were not trying to beat the shitty record, then he had no interest in helping. So he’d sit and watch from afar… only interacting if he felt like he needed to, or if his heart thought he needed to attempt to impress a certain person of his affections.

Currently, you were working with the three other girls on some puzzles. The four of you were giggling every so often as you talked. At least the half-and-half wasn’t up close and personal with you today… seeing as he was trying to help shitty Deku and four eyes with a clue of their own.

“You wanna help us, Bakugou?” Kirishima asked, motioning towards Sero and Kaminari who, by some miracle or curse… had found a clue that needed to be solved with knowledge of the periodic table… so it wasn’t going well, thus why Kirishima was asking their smart ash-blonde friend for help.

Bakugou let a low growl escape his lips as he sulked over from where he had been sitting on a chair. Kaminari and Sero practically threw the science-based question sheet at him. Bakugou scanned it over, solving it immediately.

“Baron, Oxygen, Potassuim, and Nitrogen’s symbols are N, K, O, and B.” Bakugou pointed to the door. “Go check the knob and see if anything is around it.”

Kaminari and Seri scurried off to do as such. Bakugou grumbling on how the idiots couldn’t figure out something so simple. Kirishima sat on the ground beside him, punching Bakugou’s shoulder playfully.

“Nice one man! We’re a step closer to getting out of here now!”

Kirishima watched as Bakugou scoffed and looked off towards the wall. The redhead frowning. The ash-blonde had been acting weird lately. Kirishima couldn’t place exactly why… but he knew Bakugou. And thus he knew Bakugou hated tagging along to things like this, but for some reason was.

As Bakugou’s self-proclaimed ‘best bud’, Kirishima was determined to find out what was bothering him and help him out in any way possible. After all, in the redhead’s mind, that’s what friends did and while everyone else was investigating how to escape this room, Kirishima would be investigating how to help Bakugou out of whatever had captivated him as of late and get him the success he desired.

Kirishima’s eyes followed Bakugou’s as the male started to look away from the wall. His eyes landing on the girls. Bakugou’s eyes widening slightly as (Name) let out a chuckle at something Mina had said to her. Dust of pink coming to his cheeks as he turned his head and pretended to look at the solved clue once more. As if the ash-blonde was embarrassed by the thought of getting caught staring at you.

Kirishima blinked in surprise, starting to get an idea of what the situation was. After all… Bakugou did seem like the type to try and show off when he was crushing on someone. And in a place like this where he could do so… as well as suddenly going along with gatherings, Kirishima knew that the male must be trying to impress and grow closer to you.

Bakugou shrugged Kirishima off as the redhead slung an arm over Bakugou’s shoulders. Kirishima looking at his friend with wide and sparkly eyes, as if he had just seen or heard the most amazing thing in the world.

“The fuck are you doing?” Bakugou rose a lip in disgust toward his friend.

Kirishima smiled brightly. “You’ve got a crush on (Name)... don’t you, Bakugou?”

Bakugou inhaled sharply, not believing he could be this obvious! First Tikki, and then the Half-and-Half, and now Shitty Hair! And here he thought he always had a damn good poker face when it came to mushy shit like this… apparently not. 

But Kirishima realizing it so quickly would not keep the ash-blonde from telling him to never mention it again. Kirishima was about to comment further as well, pledging his support to Bakugou’s feelings, only for the ash blonde to get up.

“Stop being so fucking nosy… it’s damn annoying…” Bakugou clicked his tongue, making his way towards where Kaminari and Sero still had not found the key out to the main room.

Kirishima inhaled softly, looking downwards. He didn’t mean to be nosy… he just wanted to help his friend with a crisis that he so clearly was having. And well… Kirishima knew Bakugou was capable of a lot of things… but love. Maybe not?

Was it really so wrong of him to have brought it up?

The redhead sighed. He didn’t mean to do anything… but it seemed like he had done nothing but cause trouble and problems for everyone this week. On Monday he had spilled his lunch all over Kaminari and the blonde didn’t have a spare uniform… and thus had to be in his gym clothes for the rest of the day. Tuesday was no better… as Kirishima had been called out by Aizawa for dozing off. He had been up all night trying to help his mom with one of his younger sisters, and thus didn’t get much sleep… so come class, he was embarrassed for not being ready like everyone else. Wednesday was a disaster… seeing as he accidentally bumped Mina while she was painting and ruined her canvas with a long splatter of green paint. Thursday he failed a test he studied for… and would have to make it up next week. Friday was filled with more cramming for the redo test, homework and general stress.

He had been hoping today would be the good day. All his close friends together, just having a good afternoon. But it seemed as if nothing was meant to go right… and now, even his best friend who he usually could never upset… was mad at him.

Kirishima’s ears heard the sounds of a door unlocking. As well as coos of praise towards Bakugou as he seemed to have gotten the door open. Your voice especially praising him, furthering showing Kirishima that Bakugou really didn’t need his help…

He just seemed unable to do anything right…

His mother had often said Kirishima didn’t have thick skin when it came to his emotions and his empathy towards others. And right now it especially seemed like it, as he was near his breaking point for all the bad things that had happened this week.

“Kirishima! Come on! We need help in the next room!” Kaminari’s voice called out and the male got up and followed the group entering.

His footsteps felt heavier than usual, and even his usual smile was quickly fading. After all… they didn’t need him here. They were all doing just fine without him, and all he did was cause things to go wrong.

Kirishima breathed in slowly, but the air in his lungs didn’t last for long. As soon the air was being expelled from his body as someone tackled him. The sounds of light surprise hitting his ears. His red eyes poking open to see it had been Bakugou that tackled him.

The ash-blonde was looking off as if he would be using his own body to shield Kirishima from something. Kirishima was now utterly confused, and wondering why he had been tackled. The answer came quickly though.

“Akuma!” Midoriya screamed, everyone else now on guard as the black butterfly was flapping gently.

“Fuck!” Bakugou roared, looking towards Kirishima. “Listen… whatever you think I meant by it… I didn’t! You know I hate these shitty things, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you!”

Kirishima blinked, a little bit of his negativity fading away. Maybe he had been overreacting… and now that an akuma was here… he especially needed to calm himself down so no other tragedies happened.

“You’re right… sorry.” Kirishima apologized as well. “I’ve just had a tough week-”

“Dude, you’ve been having a bad week?” Kaminari suddenly came into the situation. “Man you should have told me… I unlocked new Smash characters… you and I should have been blowing off steam in the game.”

Kirishima laughed slightly, glad he had good friends around him. His heavy heart starting to feel that much lighter the more he talked to his buddies, and saw that he still hadn’t messed up as badly as he assumed he did. Relief flooding his system, enough to make him chuckle.

Bakugou’s eyes widened as suddenly the akuma stopped coming near him. It meant Kirishima was no longer displaying enough negative emotions to attract it… but… that meant the butterfly was still looking for someone to Akumatize.

Bakugou rose to his feet, Kaminari helping Kirishima up. It looks like everyone had resulted in hiding in various edges of the room away from the butterfly. It started to flutter towards a table in the center of the room. The creature perching itself on a fake flower arrangement, as if waiting for something to happen.

“W-what now…?” Uraraka asked, hiding behind Tsuyu.

“We should press the panic button!” Mina cried who was hiding behind you.

“Okay two problems with that…” You muttered, pointing towards the table. “First is the Akuma could get out… second is… the panic button is resting right by the Akuma.”

“I’ll handle it…” Todoroki spoke, grabbing his phone and starting to head towards the akuma.

“Todoroki-kun! Don’t!” Midoriya called out, grabbing Todoroki and pulling him back.

“Midoriya it’s fine.” Todoroki shrugged, but now Iida was holding on as well. 

Todoroki sighed, seeing that despite how he could easily tell Monarch to shove it and take his butterfly back… his friends were much too protective. Well… Midoriya was smart, maybe he’d come up with some sort of plan.

“So what now?” Sero asked, feeling pretty nervous.

“We’re in quite the situation…” Tsuyu tilted her head. “Not like any of us have a way to contact Kuro or Red Beetle… so I think we’ll have to deal with this ourselves…”

Bakugou’s eyes shifted to you quickly, seeing how your (eye color) hues sterned slightly. It seemed you were determined to not let another victim occur today. He felt the same… and now it seemed that while this was meant to be an escape room… it would become an inescapable room until someone could take care of the Akuma and not let anyone else become a victim of Monarch and the way he twisted the emotions of others.

  
  



	25. Akumas and Shenanigans

Ch.25 - Akumas and Shenanigans

“The thing is practically taunting us…” Mina grumbled, still hiding behind you.

The Akuma had yet to move an inch in the ten minutes since its arrival. Only ever so gently batting its wings up and down, showing it was still alive and well. No one had moved, aside from general shuffling to look at the Akuma from a better angle. It seemed everyone had agreed to not get close to it in fear of what it could do.

“We can’t just stand around for another forty minutes…” Todoroki breathed out, looking towards Midoriya and Iida. “The situation in here will only grow tenser and one of us will for sure get Akumatized from the fear of it.”

“Then… we should kill it!” Kaminari suddenly spoke with vigor. “It’s a butterfly right, so let’s just smash it!”

Before you could warn the blonde with the lightning bolt in his hair that it wasn’t that simple… Kaminari had grabbed whatever was on the table he was standing by. The antique phone decoration was tossed towards the Akuma. The telephone shattering the glass table, sending the flower vase and panic button into a mess of glass and fallen table. Meanwhile, the Akuma had taken to the air again.

“You fucking moron!” Bakugou roared, voice loud and angry. “What the fuck was that supposed to accomplish?!”

Kaminari shrugged, then looked panicked as the Akuma started to make its way over to them all once more. “I-I was trying to squash it! Now, look out!”

Immediately it was Bakugou who was tackled this time. Sero, Kirishima, and Kaminari all wanting to protect him… whether it is a general worry for Bakugou or worry of the monster he could get turned into.

The butterfly ignored the group of four boys now in a dogpile on the ground. Instead fluttering towards the table the telephone had just rested on. The boys all scrambled to the other side of the room where their friends were. Everyone hunched together, looking on with worry at the situation.

“C-can we try for the panic button?” Uraraka whined.

“It’s not a good idea…” Tsuyu mumbled, pointing to the glass pile. “If anyone tries to find it… your hand is pretty much-guaranteed surgery from the amount of glass it’ll go through to get the button.”

“So we’re screwed is what you’re saying?!” Kaminari cried, Sero elbowing him harshly.

It was clear Kaminari was the one panicking the most right here and now. Your eyes batted quickly over to the bug, and to your surprise, despite the increase of panic in Kaminari… it didn’t move. As if the Akuma didn’t even acknowledge him.

Making a silent prayer for good luck ironically, as well as running a small trial to see if what you had theorized to do something to see if your line of thinking was correct you shuffled over to a side of the room. Mina quickly replacing you as a shield with Kirishima. 

“Plagg… I have an idea.” You whispered into your bag while everyone was trying to decide what to do next. “But… I need a little destructive power…”

Plagg blinked from inside your purse before a smile engulfed his face. “Say the word kid! You know I can give you all the destruction you’d like!”

After quickly telling Plagg what you were after, he phased out of your bag and started to head off to do exactly that. You came back towards the group, narrowly missing how one male with red eyes had been watching you.

Bakugou huffed, seeing as even out of costume you were acting. He might as well do the same. Tikki had been shuffling about in his backpack since it all started… so maybe he’ll let her help out your kwami.

“Whatever the cat one of you is doing… help out.” He told her silently as he put his bag down and pretended to look through it for something.

Tikki nodded and followed after where Plagg had gone. That kwami really shouldn’t be unsupervised… so she might as well try and be the supervisor of him for whatever quest (Name) had sent him on.

Bakugou returned, muttering some excuse of not having a lighter in his bag, thus they couldn’t burn the Akuma. Ideas were still flying about, but it seemed that now a somewhat planned idea had been successfully chosen for an attempt.

“Let’s put a cup over it!” Iida had declared and then looked around. “Ah! There’s a decorative bowl!”

Everyone’s eyes fell onto the bowl, but now… it was a question of who should approach. No one said anything, not wanting to volunteer or place the burden of approaching the Akuma anyone else.

Silently Todoroki dumped the bowl and marched towards the butterfly. Everyone watching with held breath, hoping this would work. Todoroki slammed the bowl down over the Akuma. A second passing before the bowl turned a dark purple, and Todoroki tensed up.

“Oh…. crap…” Kirishima felt the fear inside of him grow.

Todoroki turned to look at his classmates, frown on his features. “I’m still not interested. Please go away, we’re trying to enjoy our Saturday and you’re ruining it.”

You sighed, seeing as Todoroki still was rather amazing with this weird ability to say no to Monarch. And it seemed he was shameless in sharing this with everyone else. Though… it also seemed Todoroki’s terrible social skills were a hindrance in this scenario.

“Oh. We’re doing an escape room.” He spoke and suddenly the Akuma rematerialized out of the bowl and was flying through the air again.

“It’s coming this way!” Uraraka screamed, and everyone took off running towards Todoroki.

Everyone gathered together and watched as the Akuma was once more lost and unable to find someone to effect. With a mild relief, everyone turned to look at Todoroki.

“So you fight off Akumas… that’s good.” You started then frowned towards him. “But it was a bad idea to tell him where we are… since he knows we can’t leave…”

“I didn’t want to be rude.” Todoroki shrugged. “He’s usually polite when offering me a deal…”

“He’s the fucking bad guy!” Bakugou roared.

“He does have a calm speaking voice though…” Kaminari mused.

“It helps persuade you a lot… now that I think about it.” Midoriya commented.

“Fucking great… the asshole not only is going shitty things, but he’s a persuasive speaker…” Bakugou dragged a hand down his face. 

Before anyone else could speak though, a blaring alarm sounded off inside the room. Everyone immediately covering their ears as the noise beat down upon their eardrums. Accompanied by flashing lights and the fire sprinkler, it seemed that an emergency had been found and the fire system was now activated.

Bakugou’s eye twitched, mind swarming with ideas about what exactly your little kwami did to cause this… and if there was a real fire somewhere. His thoughts stopped though as the sprinklers seemed to weigh down on the wings of the Akuma and it was sent toppling to the ground right before them all.

Bakugou’s eyes widening as he looked over to you. You held a satisfied smirk on your features, looking proud of yourself for this little plan. It seemed like helping your mother clean out the animal anatomy exhibit over the week had reminded you of how winged bugs didn’t take well to having their wings wet.

Soon enough an employee had unlocked the door and was telling all of the UA students to hurry out. Everyone did so, glad to escape the Akuma with no one ending up as its victim. The missing kwamis entering the bags of their holders without any notice and then their holders each taking off to deal with the situation quickly before anyone noticed their missing status.

Kuro was already waiting for Red Beetle when he arrived. She waved, pointing to the little Akuma struggling to stand up. The sprinklers still on and Kuro looking a bit displeased by it. Red wasted no time in quickly purifying it and then let the butterfly go. 

Kuro caught it gently in her hands however and then didn’t let it go until the pair were outside. The butterfly didn’t need to soak its wings twice after all, and now freed from evil itself, Kuro happily watched as it flew away.

“Funny seeing you here.” Kuro commented, RB tensing up slightly.

“I could say the damn same to you.” Red Beetle shot back.

“My informant at the museum happened to be here, she notified me as soon as she could.” Kuro rose a finger in a matter of fact tone.

RB wished he could have the chance to laugh, seeing now that Kuro had been talking about herself this entire time. But he knew he couldn’t… seeing as Kuro didn’t know what he knew.

“We should get going… the cops were already called and I don’t wanna fight them off today…” RB sighed but was sent into a sputtering mess as Kuro grabbed his arm suddenly.

“RB wait!” She cried and he looked at her in shock and interest. “I want to ask you something.”

Red Beetle blushed heavily, his mind automatically wandering to something it more than likely wasn’t. But with Kuro’s determined and serious look, it was enough to tell him to throw away his lovey-dovey gross thoughts and pay attention to her.

“What?” He barked softly.

“I’ve been thinking… but… what if those who were Akumatized before… are immune to Akumas now?” She asked him.

No answer could be given though… as the sounds of sirens drew near. But the question… would clearly leave both parties to wonder about it for the time being.

~~~~~

After transforming back and meeting up with everyone again, as in his favor everyone broke up. Midoriya to see if he could sneak a peek at the heroes who had come and gone like the wind, while everyone else had hidden or watched from afar, it looked like the day would be called here.

Everyone said goodbye. Bakugou getting a personal one from not only Kirishima apologizing for attracting an Akuma and worrying his friends, but also from you. You wished him safe travels home before heading off yourself.

He smiled smugly, seeing as Todoroki didn’t get a personal goodbye… but he did! What a way to end the day.

But now… he had to think about the question your other persona had asked him. And the more he thought about it, the more plausible it became.

Dunce Face and Deku had been the two to freak out the most… and yet, the Akuma never once came near. Instead going for those it hadn’t yet touched. Could it be… that by being purified of an Akuma, one was no longer at risk of becoming one again?

He sighed as he walked home, seeing as today brought way too many ideas, like whatever the fuck that half-and-half did and that Monarch was… ‘friendly’ as confirmed by the former victims. 

Bakugou shook his head. Monarch being friendly more than likely was to create a false sense of security to people already vulnerable to his influence. But the thought of the asshole doing that… still didn’t sit well with him.

Every time something else about this guy was learned… Bakugou couldn’t help but despise him more.

~~~~~

You collapsed onto your bed, still listening to Mina ramble on about how scared she was. Uraraka adding in a note or two. The three of you had agreed to stay on the phone with one another until all of you were home.

You had finally arrived back, but Mina was still on a train to her house, and Uraraka had stopped for cheap snacks near her home. You chuckled as Mina muttered something about how Kirishima made for a good shield.

“Someone’s got a crush!” Uraraka whispered, giggling.

“We all know you have one on Midoriya!” Mina hollered back.

Uraraka sputtered out, but couldn’t deny it. You hummed gently, a decision of your own coming into your mind. You had been debating it lately… but after having seen him so much lately and gotten the chance to hang out more… you were ready.

“Hey.” You spoke, catching the attention of the two girls. “I think on Monday… I’m finally going to ask Bakugou out.”

The sounds of screams could have made you deaf. But it certainly made you blind… as you missed the worried glance from the kwami resting beside you. That declaration… not sitting well with him after what Tikki had confessed that her holder found out.

After all… that ash-blonde boy… was unpredictable. 

  
  



	26. Sudden Confessions and Unexpected Heartbreak

Ch.26 - Sudden Confessions and Unexpected Heartbreak

You bravely crossed the entranceway into UA. Smiling to yourself about the new little accessory in your hair today. Your mother had seemed too excited to wait to give it to you for your birthday in another few months and thus had decided to gift it to you early. Something about it being a present for how well you’ve done in your new school environment.

You could hardly believe how well you were getting along at school either. Part of you still always worried about if you were fitting in, making friends, and acting as a teenager should… but you knew better than to focus your energy on that. 

The small little clip in your hair had a hand-painted landscape of flowers on it. Making you smile at how the girls would find it cute, plus… it would help keep your hair out of your eyes when you were trying to do work.

Your feet walked happily down the hallway, pausing when you saw the boy you were looking for by one of the vending machines. Well… better now than later. Might as well not beat around the bush any longer!

“Bakugou-kun!” You ran up to him, heart beating that much faster as you approached him. “Do you have a minute?”

Bakugou rose a brow, noticing the nervous, yet excited smile. As well as the pink on your cheeks. He was curious what this could be about, and thus wouldn’t blow you off to enjoy his black coffee.

You inhaled slowly, seeing as you had his attention and might as well come out with it. You looked at him with a smile, making the male’s heart clenching from that sweet face… for him.

“I-I’ve really enjoyed having you tag along to the last few weekend activities… but I was wondering if maybe you’d be interested in going to a movie or something, just the two of us sometime… as a… a date?”

You shut your eyes tightly, becoming a little stiff. You had said it, thus, you could praise yourself for that. Now you just had to wait for a response. Hopefully a good response.

You waited several seconds, and eventually, it turned into a minute. You peeked your eyes open once more, looking towards the male. Did he not hear you? No… he had to, so… why hadn’t he said anything?

Your eyes were met with a long frown, and eyes filled with emotions you couldn’t place. But, he looked angry. Truthfully, Bakugou always looked angry, but this time… this angry just looked different. As if he wasn’t sure how to handle it.

You took a step back, seeing as your little invitation was taken in a way you didn’t expect. Was he really so disgusted by your question that he didn’t even think you deserved to be talked to?

“O-Oh… I’m sorry.” Your voice cracked as the first little bubbles of liquid started to form in your eyes.

You didn’t say anything else, instead running off down the hallway. The last image Bakugou saw of you was the waterworks breaking down your cheeks. 

He inhaled slowly, looking down at his hands. What the hell was that? Why didn’t he say anything? 

You asked him out! You just confirmed you had feelings for him! Him!

And yet, he couldn’t speak. He wanted to… but instead, he was left in such a stupor that you had taken it the wrong way. And he couldn’t blame you, seeing as he had only stared you down in the shocked face at this sudden exchange of feelings.

Or rather… only your sudden exchange of feelings.

He felt the same though and had been wanting to tell you himself. So why? Why couldn’t...

Why couldn’t he say how he felt back?

~~~~~

The bathroom door slammed closed, your bag being roughly placed down onto the floor. You inhaled brokenly, trying to control the tears that were spilling out from your eyes, but it seemed as if the faucet had a major leak. You sucked in air, but it did little to help you.

Plagg gently poked his head out of the bag, looking towards his holder with a long and melancholy frown. The poor kid… this really was her first time experiencing heartbreak, wasn’t it? But even so… Plagg couldn’t help himself from feeling angry about how this came about. 

You quivered, arms wrapping around your body. It was a poor attempt to try and make any sort of comfort for yourself, but you didn’t know what else to do. You had to do something though. Your chest felt like it was being punctured by a million tiny needles, and your heart was only reacting to it by beating that much faster.

“Hey kid…” Plagg spoke gently, starting to gently approach you. “It’s alright… its just one boy.”

You shook your head. “I-it’s more than that, Plagg! It’s not just one boy who I decided to be an idiot in front of… but that interaction is going to define how we interact from here on out! Eventually, others will find out and I’ll be a joke. I-I tried so hard to make friends… and now… now I’m going to lose it all because I couldn’t see through my own feelings. I’m an idiot… I’m the stupidest person on this Earth!”

Plagg blinked, seeing as this entire thing was spiraling out of control and quickly. It wasn’t just that the boy you liked denied your feelings for him, but it seemed that the social anxiety that you had been making look nonexistent, was really there and now… your mind was growing in the area of irrationality and becoming a downward trend of negative thoughts, emotions, and despair.

“It won’t be like that…” Plagg tried again, but his words were failing him.

He wasn’t the being associated with happiness like Tikki… he was the one associated with the opposite and he couldn’t help but feel as if he might be the one who helped bring upon this event and its aftermath.

You sniffled softly, collecting your things once more and motioning for Plagg to get inside the bag. The kwami did so quietly, watching as you started to leave the bathroom, eyes still puffy and tears running down your cheeks.

“Where are you going, kid?” Plagg asked, worried for you.

“Home… I’m skipping the rest of today.” You told him, something that was off character about you. 

But, Plagg let it be. It was clear you were in no mood to deal with anyone else today. He could see all you wanted to do now was barricade yourself in your room and let the day pass by. He didn’t mind this and would be there beside you as it happened.

You exited the bathroom, and soon were entering the hallway. As you did so, someone looked to be leaving the men’s room. You turned to glance at the person, feeling embarrassed right away as you saw their face.

Todoroki blinked, noticing the tears on your face and growing concerned right away. 

“Is everything alright?” He asked, genuine concern in his voice.

You broke further at that point, collapsing into his arms and crying harshly into his shoulder. Todoroki blinking in confusion before settling it out and wrapping his arms around you tightly. 

He wasn’t sure if he was right… but he assumed at this moment, you needed a hug. And he could only hope his would provide what you needed to some extent.

~~~~~

Bakugou slammed his fist into his locker. He inhaled sharply, striking it again and again until his hand was numbing and the locker had a few good dents in it. His ash-blonde hair covered his eyes, blocking his kwami from making any sort of guess as to what exactly he was feeling at his core.

Anger? Shame? Confusion?

She didn’t know, but she knew she needed to say something to him. To try and calm him down and think this through… and maybe fix this.

“Bakugou.” Tikki spoke softly. “Are you okay?”

Bakugou chuckled, looking at his kwami finally. His red eyes looked more blood-red then carmine red at this moment. His anger making the color come out. But from the way his lips quivered and how his teeth sunk into his lips, Tikki knew this wasn’t anger.

“How could I be okay?” He cried out painfully. “The girl I like actually confessed to me that she likes me back! And what the fuck do I do? I stare at her with my ‘angry by defualt’ face… unable to say anything back for some fucking reason. And then… she apologizes and runs away in damn tears before I can even speak!”

He grips his fists together harshly. “The fuck is wrong with me…”

He storms off, Tikki following after him. Before she can speak again though, he was storming out of the locker room. Tikki phased herself into his bag, knowing she couldn’t risk talking to him public. This would have to wait until he was alone once more… though she wished she knew where he was going exactly.

Bakugou’s footsteps were thundering, eyes scanning the hallway as he came out. If he went left, he could ditch the rest of the day… but he really should go right and head back to class.

As he was turning to do so though, his eyes fell onto a pair of other students to the right. The half-and-half had his arms around you, back facing him. Your body entangled in his arms like your life depended on it, face buried in his shoulder… hiding Bakugou from your view.

Bakugou’s chest tightened and his anger soared that much more, now with a twist of jealousy as well. He had messed up and pushed you right into the arms of Todoroki it seemed… thus meaning he had no chance of fixing this.

He grit his teeth together, turning on his heel and storming down the hallway. Mind racing as to what to do now. He couldn’t have Kuro. He couldn’t have you. And it was all because he couldn’t control himself and how he acted.

Tikki had tried to help him be a better person so his hero outlook would be that much stronger… but it seemed like his angry face, he was destined to be a prideful, hurtful, and spiteful person by default.

He didn’t even know why Tikki put so much faith into him. He was nothing more than a pathetic, weak, loser. The kind he despised because deep down… some sort of him knew this. And now, it was only after seeing the damage he could cause and how it would make him lose out on the things and people he cared for the most… that made him accept his pathetic life and self.

“MOVE!” Your voice shouted suddenly before something hard collided with his backside.

Bakugou was pushed onto the ground. He rolled a few feet and then looked up, ready to shout until his lungs were dry at the person who shouted at him. But right as he was about to, he looked up to see that this day was about to become that much worse.

Carmine eyes widening, Bakugou watched as a butterfly the color of the night gently landed and was absorbed into the little flower pin that had been resting in your hair that day. Your body tensing up before your grabbed your head as if it was in agony.

Your eyes were forced shut, and you shook your head back and forth a few times. Hands gripping the necklace around your neck a few times. Bakugou’s eyes widening as he realized what was happening.

Slowly you stopped fighting back, and your body relaxed. Bakugou’s body springing into action and snatching the necklace off your body with a violent pull. The connecting piece coming undone and thus causing the miraculous to fall into his hand. 

He didn’t waste another second, grabbing his bag and running down the hallway. This was bad… and he knew that it was all his fault.


	27. Tough Choices and Poor Decisions

Ch.27 - Tough Choices and Poor Decisions

Todoroki hummed gently, running a hand down your back. This was how you comforted someone right? He wasn’t sure… he could only hope you were okay.

“Did something happen?” He asked, hearing the sounds of the boy’s locker room open from behind him.

A reflection on one of the windows showing it was Bakugou who was walking out and away at a hurried pace. You sniffled harshly, Todoroki responding by hugging you tighter.

You whined gently, knowing it would make you feel better to talk to the male. But at the same time… you didn’t want to burden Todoroki with any of your problems.

“I don’t want to bother you.” You breathed.

Todoroki shook his head. “You won’t be.”

You smiled a little bit into his arms, head pulling off his shoulder slightly. His friendship was nice… and his dedication in trying to help was cheering you up a little bit. You lifted your head up, ready to speak. But your eyes fell onto something before you… leaving you to only mutter one word as you broke out of Todoroki’s kind grasp.

“Akuma…”

Todoroki watched with shocked eyes as you darted towards where the akuma was approaching Bakugou. He let out a shout of his own as you pushed the ash-blonde out of the way, leaving the akuma a perfect opening to land on you.

“No!” Todoroki shouted, running down the hallway to catch up to you.

Bakugou by now had seemed to catch onto what had just happened and was looking shocked. The pair of males watching as your started to shake your head aggressively, trying to fight it off. 

And then had their faces sink in horror as you stilled, only to slowly nod. The black magic of the akuma consuming your entire body. And when you would emerge… it was clear to the two males who were too stunned to move… that it wouldn’t be the you they both knew and loved.

  
  
  


~~~~~

Your eyes blinked open, looking around the surrounding area in a panic. You inhaled sharply, images of all your fears looking to be playing on repeat in this cold and darkroom. You shook your head, trying to not let it overwhelm you. 

But it seemed this couldn’t be helped. Slowly but surely, the darkness of this room was starting to consume you as well. The black shadows were connecting to your skin, eating away at it until you could barely tell if your arms and legs were still there or not.

The growing noise of voices making you want to cover your ears but unable to do so. It was so loud, and they kept confirming all the fears and anxieties that had been built up over so long. Confirmations of your inability to fit in, understand people in your age group, and how no matter what… the only thing you would ever be able to rely upon was yourself.

The loneliness of your heart was suffocating.

“It’s hard isn’t it.” A deep male voice spoke, a small bundle of light appearing before you. “Feeling as if no matter what you do… you won’t be able to make genuine connections with others.”

You blinked slowly, seeing the silhouette of a man before you. It was hard to make out anything about him from the darkness. But even so, you knew the name of this man.

“M..Monarch?” You breathed out, a sense of serenity washing over you since the arrival of this man.

He chuckled. “You’re a smart one… usually, I have to introduce myself. Now (Name)... how about you allow me to help you gain control over your life?”

Your eyes widened. “I- I don’t want to hurt anyone though…”

Monarch smiled gently, bending down to where you sat on the cold floor. His hand gently rubbing through your locks.

“Then you won’t have to hurt aneyone.” He extended his hand to you. “I shall make you the writer of your own history… and the history of others.”

He was being kind and willing to let you stand up on your own once again. So… how could you refuse the one person who had made you feel like you were not a complete and total failure?

His hand was warm as your weak one embraced it. 

~~~~~

Bakugou and Todoroki were stood motionless as the akuma seemed to have finished its transformation on you. The UA uniform had changed into what looked like a battle dress lined with golden flowers made of diamonds. The color scheme made of navy blue and dark purple. A mask placed over your eyes, hiding the once vibrant (eye color) hues from all to see.

“Crap…” Bakugou breathed, seeing as it was too late to stop this.

You had been akumatized… and it was all his fault.

At the sound of his voice, you turned to look at him. Eyes now open under the mask, revealing them to be a swirling mess of changing colors. A single golden diamond petal broke off your dress as you looked at him.

“I wonder what part of your history made you so cocky…” You spoke harshly to him. “Perhaps I should erase that moment… or just erase your parents ever meeting…”

“Bakugou! Run!” Tikki whispered harshly to him from his bag.

The male did so, hearing the sounds of you running after him as he did so. This was getting worse and worse by the minute. Not only were you trying to kill him… but it seemed you had the ability to change history itself should one of those golden diamond petals touch him.

“(Name)!” Todoroki was suddenly following after. 

You paused when you heard his voice, something inside of you forcing you to stop. You were now over your grief about Bakugou and wanted to hurt him as he hurt you… but Todoroki? How did you feel about him at this moment?

You turned to look at the other male, seeing him approaching slowly. He looked as he always did though, no fear of you whatsoever. He stopped close to you, holding out his hand.

“We didn’t finish talking before… let’s do that before going after Bakugou.”

You blinked, then chuckled slowly. “You know… the pathetic me you were comforting would have agreed to that right away… but now… now I care more about doing things that will make my life and those who deserve my kindness happier”

A butterfly mask appeared over your eyes, Todoroki’s heart stopping its beating for a second. You drove one of your golden diamond petals into his chest suddenly. You frowned, seeing the written history of his life before your eyes.

“You’ve always been nice to me…” You hummed, changing a few details. “So… I’ll make it so your tormentor was arrested for abuse years ago.”

You marched off after that, knowing now that you’ve changed the natural flow… it also meant you had a dedicated follower. Now to gain a few more before taking care of all of those who hurt you.

Thanks to Monarch… you could become a God.

And Gods… got to choose when to be merciful or not with barely any consequences.

~~~~~

Bakugou slammed the door to the boy’s locker room closed again, turning the lock and inhaling sharply. Eyes wide at what had just happened and was currently happening. This wasn’t good… not good at all.

Not only had you been akumatized, but had it not been for your quick and reckless thinking, he would have been the one to become a victim. He shook his head, trying to convince himself that he needed to transform and stop you.

But without Kuro… how could he? The pair of you were a team, and as he had learned… it was a lot harder to stop an akuma victim with only one person. So… he was in doubt about his chance of stopping you without the power of destruction.

“Shit…” He cursed, Tikki looking at him with concern.

“Oh… it has definitely gone to shit…” Someone who wasn’t Tikki spoke.

Bakugou blinked as suddenly another kwami was floating right before his face. The black creature looking particularly angry. His whiskers looking on the edge and his arms crossed. The black kwami’s eyes looking towards the activate black miraculous in Bakugou’s hands.

“Plagg!” Tikki cried, happy to see he hadn’t gotten akumatized with (Name).

Plagg didn’t respond, instead he rushed forward. He viciously poked Bakugou on the eye. And then landed in his hair, pulling as hard as he could. The ash-blonde crying out in more annoyance than pain.

“Plagg! Stop!” Tikki was appalled by this.

“Not until this brat apologizes!” Plagg shouted. “I finally get a good holder after so long and he goes and gets her akumatized cause he’s too emotionally constipated to say anything back to her after she finally gets the courage to conquer her social fears and ask him out!”

Bakugou finally grabbed the kwami, holding him in his hand. Not hurting Plagg, but for sure keeping him where he was now. The kwami wasn’t done though, and after seeing how biting Bakugou’s hand wouldn’t let him go… he had one option left.

“Tikki… tell him to let me go or I will use my cataclysm on him!” Plagg was near boiling point.

“Plagg! That’s too dangerous!” Tikki cried, but still motioned for Bakugou to let the kwami go.

Bakugou did, and Plagg took his miraculous with him. The necklace turning back into a black gem. Bakugou huffed, then looked at Plagg before the kwami could continue his rant.

“I know I messed up… and I know this is my damn fault…” He breathed out, Plagg looking at him in surprise.

“Well, you being aware of it doesn’t help… so instead, tell me how you’re going to fix it.” Plagg was speaking calmly, but it was clear he was still beyond anger.

“I-I don’t know…” Bakugou breathed, looking at his own miraculous. “I can’t use both miraculous at once… and I can’t win without someone else using the other miraculous.”

The three stood in silence, knowing Bakugou was right. The sounds of screams engulfing the once peaceful school. If only… they had someone who could help out.

As terrible timing worked, it was at that moment someone burst through the back entrance to the locker room. Slamming the door closed and then letting out a set of panicked breaths.

Bakugou, Tikki, and Plagg all looked around the corner, seeing messy green hair. Tikki’s eyes widened and suddenly she grabbed Bakugou’s ring and pulled it off his finger. Bakugou’s eyes wide when he realized what was happening.

“Tikki… no fucking way.” Bakugou put his foot down. “I am not fucking teaming up with… with Deku!”

“Bakugou come on! We both know how helpful Midoriya can be right now!” Tikki begged, then looked to Plagg. “And you can team up with Plagg! You both care about (Name) a lot! Thus you’ll be unstoppable together!”

“And super destructive!” Plagg cried out. “This kid is volatile! We might end up killing (Name)!”

“Plagg… we both know my personality will work better to mesh with Midoriya. And despite that fact… Bakugou’s personality is different enough to work with you as well as he works with me!” Tikki urged as another panicked set of screams occurred. “Please, you two… I know you both want to save (Name)... so we have to do what can save her the best way…”

Bakugou and Plagg exchanged looks, Plagg slowly handing his gem over. A black ring forming this time instead of a red one. Plagg looked upset but knew he needed to help bring you back to your senses.

As for Bakugou… doing this and giving Tikki to Deku was not what he wanted. But… he knew this was all thanks to him… thus, he needed to fix this no matter what. Even if that meant… giving the thorn in his side since preschool the chance to finally live out his dream.

And risk more than not getting Tikki back from him when all was said and done.


	28. A Black Beetle and a Red Rabbit

Ch.28 - A Black Beetle and a Red Rabbit

Midoriya inhaled slowly, trying to find some sort of rational way out of this mess. One of his friends and classmates had been akumatized again, and this one seemed particularly strong. It seemed her power not only allowed her to change the natural process of life… but once messed with, the person affected had become solely unified to the akuma villain.

It was as if (Name) had become a God who created her peers for the sole purpose of never thinking poorly of her… or making her feel any sort of anxiety.

Midoriya could relate. Be it the akumatization when he was already feeling low and questioning himself or that he and his newest classmate shared a lot of similar traits, and nervous ways of thinking when it came to social situations. 

But now, despite wanting to help… he knew he couldn’t get close without possibly becoming affected by her power as well. Thus… he was left trying to post to social media while also fearfully watching the door to make sure he wasn’t found.

If his guess was right… Red Beetle and Kuro were normal people who had magic powers. Thus, they had to watch the news right? They’d see his message and come to help right?

Midoriya shut his eyes, fingers pausing making his message. He jumped suddenly the next moment though when someone suddenly placed a hand on him. The boy letting out a shriek before a large hand was placed over his mouth.

“Do you want to get our fucking hiding spot found?” A gruff voice scolded the green-haired boy.

Midoriya blinked, seeing someone familiar… but in a completely different color scheme. Red Beetle looked to now be a black beetle. The red of his costume now replaced with varying shades of black. His grenades were still there, but now instead of three… he had two. Plus… now the tips of his hair were black instead of red. 

“A-are you Red Beetle?” Midoriya asked.

RB sighed. “Yeah… long story short… Kuro’s on some trip right now and can’t help. So-”

RB sucked in his breath, still not believing he was doing this. He did not want to do this. But… there was something greater on the line. And whether it be Plagg’s influence already directly affecting him and making him more willing to hand Tikki over, or that his feelings for you were a lot stronger than he assumed… Red Beetle finally told Midoriya what he wanted from him.

“-I need your… assistance.” The blonde male breathed out.

Midoriya’s eyes widened as a small red being holding a red gem floated forward. Midoriya held out his hands, letting the creature land in his cupped hands. Tikki smiled happily, holding out her gem to him.

Upon Midoriya taking it, the gem transformed into a thin stringed bracelet with the miraculous tied in the center. Midoriya was left in silence but slowly slipped the object on. He turned to RB in the next moment, eyes wide and ready to help.

“Long story short… this is Tikki. She’s  _ my _ kwami. So when we’re done… you  _ will _ give her back to me.” RB’s voice was stern.

Midoriya nodded furiously. “O-oh course! I wouldn’t take what’s rightfully yours!”

“Good. Now listen up. I’m only explaining your powers once!” RB rose his voice slightly as another loud crash came from the hallway. “The miraculous is only activated if you ask Tikki to transform you. When that happens, you’ll have the power of creation, good luck, and some elemental ability. Your lucky charm works once, so don’t waste it.”

“And only you can destroy the akuma object! Once you do I purify it and then restore order!” Midoriya answered back, then continuing to repeat other things the ash-blonde didn’t know he was aware of.

Midoriya rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, Red Beetle… I’ve been working hard to understand your and Kuro’s powers so I can help in some way. But… I’ll try my best to help here!”

“Hurry and transform you fucking nerd…” RB sighed.

“R-right!” Midoriya looked towards Tikki who nodded. “Tikki! Transform me!”

A quick passing of red and white light and then suddenly Midoriya and Tikki had combined into a new hero. The green-haired male now had locks of scarlet red mixed in with a little black. His costume looking ready for battle, but also having a few features of hares.

The new hero blinked. “A rabbit? Isn’t Tikki a ladybug though?”

“The animal related to the kwami is just so they are familiar to humans. Plus, it’s the powers and myths associated with the kwami’s animal form. So… black cats are bad luck, and ladybugs are good luck. And yet… I’m still a beetle cause they have good armor, and your’s a damn rabbit… for whatever fucking reason.”

“T-Toshinori Yagi likes rabbits… and I always wanted one growing up… so I guess I’m a rabbit.” Midoriya blinked. “Oh! Call me Aka Usagi!”

RB blinked, then turned. He didn’t have the time to scold him for such a lame name. Though… some part of him internally refused to accept he did the same thing with his hero name.

~~~~~

Finding you was rather easy, as it seemed you had quickly made an army of other UA students. You turned slowly from where you were sitting and watching your subjects interact happily. Eyes dull and dress lacking much of its original golden crystals.

“About time…” You muttered, holding up a crystal. “I’ve saved one just for you Red…”

Your voice dulled when your eyes caught sight of a black Red Beetle and another hero. So… he replaced you so easily it seems. That only made you angrier.

“You…” You breathed, approaching Aka Usagi and grabbing him by the throat before either could react. “...you are undeserving…”

You easily threw the hero through the wall behind both you and RB. The sounds of cracking and a wall falling making you look towards RB with a smirk. Not even the sounds of a lucky charm being summoned could make you falter.

“Don’t make me hurt you…” RB growled, hand touching onto the cataclysm grenade.

You smirked. “I have no problem hurting you though.”

It was all for your perfect world. And while there was most definitely a place for RB… he needed to be properly fitted into the mold you planned for him. And thus, you attacked him, crystal at the ready.

The only problem was… RB knew who you were. And was having trouble fighting back as a result. Despite his hand on the grenade and knowing only he could break the object… he was frozen. He couldn’t hurt you…

The sounds of a grenade rolling against the floor and the chatter of the rewritten peers of his making everything seem tenser, RB cracked his eyes open to see what had happened.

You had pushed him onto the ground, strength not letting him get up. And golden crystal inches away from plunging into his body and allowing you to do whatever you wished for him.

Mere moments away from letting Monarch accomplish his goal.

And him unable to do anything… because his feelings for you… had been left without proper thought and handling. Leaving the male… unsure of what to do. Ruining the situation further and making him completely at your mercy.

You leaned down towards his face, laughing slightly as the crystal started to dig into his chest. The power you had been granted starting to affect him immediately- the first one being utter pain.

“Got you…” You muttered sweetly, making sure to push the crystal further into RB’s chest as your heels dug into his legs. “Now… what should I change? Maybe the day you took your miraculous… or what made you worthy to have one…”

RB coughed roughly, struggling to do anything. He couldn’t reach his grenades, and Deku was still more than likely passed out from that hit. There was no way… he couldn’t lose here. He couldn’t lose Plagg… or Tikki… or you.

“Fucking… stop it.” He growled towards you, like a wounded animal trying to seem scary despite its pain.

You didn’t respond, instead watching as the crystal started to plant its roots in his chest. RB crying out in discomfort as he felt you begin to rewrite his history. It was a painful thing, feeling parts of himself literally being removed from himself, only to be replaced with hollow and illusionary memories and emotions part of him knew were not real.

But he couldn’t help but accept them.

“Get off him…” A weak voice spoke, making both of you turn to look.

Aka Usagi was on his feet again. But from the blood and injuries, it was clear he wouldn’t stay on his feet for long. You clicked your tongue, pushing off RB and walking toward the bunny boy.

“Guess you’re too impatient to wait your turn.” You spoke with harshness in your voice.

“Fucking run!” RB hollered, but his childhood friend remained still.

You grabbed him and proceeded to inject his arm with another flowering crystal. Watching with interest and pride at how you could take down such strong heroes. Monarch had chosen the right person it seemed.

Aka Usagi inhaled sharply, before suddenly pulling on the little piece of string he had gotten for his lucky charm. You blinked, not knowing what had just happened. But after a moment… the grenade on RB’s waist… exploded.

An intense amount of chaotic destructive magic spilled out. The miraculous on RB cracking and the hairpin in your hair shattering. Aka Usagi’s own miraculous starting to quiver, but he knew what to do.

“Restoration!” He called, tossing the string up. The magic light fixing everything, and when it cleared, all that remained of everything was a black butterfly flying gently in the air.

“I shall free you from evil!” The rabbit dressed male called out, capturing the butterfly and freeing it moments later once it was purified.

RB sat up, looking at his ring. No longer cracked. It was a reckless move… but it had worked. Deku may be an annoying little shit… but at least when the time mattered… he could actually be useful to some extent.

Once things had returned to normal, RB’s red eyes immediately looked for you. Your (hair color) locks slowly shifted as you began to sit up. You blinked, looking around, seeming a bit confused.

Only to suddenly have your eyes widen and face pale. It seemed… the memories of what had happened came crashing down quickly. And now, you were left in the aftermath of what had occurred.

RB pushed himself towards you, wanting to talk to you and help settle you from what had just happened. But he stopped, hearing a familiar beeping. It was at that moment that both your and RB’s eyes met.

He looked like he wanted to say something… but the beeping of his ring stopped him. You watched with sad eyes as Red Beetle took off, taking your miraculous and kwami with him. Though, part of you wasn’t too terribly upset by this. In fact… you were glad RB had found your miraculous. And another part of you hoped… he wouldn’t bring it back, nor let Plagg try to find you again.

“Are you doing okay?” Todoroki approached, holding out a hand towards you.

You nodded slowly, before covering your face with your hands and beginning to cry harshly. The male sighed sadly, helping you up on your feet and brought you into his arms again. 

“Let me bring you home…” Todoroki muttered. “You need some rest.”

You nodded towards the male. Too tired and upset to question why he was talking to you after what you had done. Too exhausted to ask why he was being so nice. And too afraid to ask why he still was hugging you with so much care.

It all could wait. Because the only thing on your mind right now was getting home and hoping that after crawling into bed… you’d wake up to find this entire thing had been a nightmare, to begin with.


	29. Reconciliations and Recollections

Ch.29 - Reconciliations and Recollections

The streets were fairly empty as you walked home beside the male with red and white hair. He was giving you a little amount of space, knowing that you must be dealing a lot with the lingering emotions of what had happened and what to think of it all now.

“Do you want to talk at all?” He asked you gently, you pausing a moment in your strides.

Did you want to talk about it?

You knew you had to eventually… but you were not sure if right now was the right time, or if Todoroki was even the right person to talk to such things about.

But you couldn’t help it… and you knew that the prompting to confess your inner emotions was enough to make you spill all your worries from your lips once more.

“I’m sorry…” You stated, looking towards Todoroki with watery eyes. “I’m sorry for what I did to you…”

Todoroki blinked, a surprised expression over his features before it slowly began to melt into one of soft understanding. Finally allowing his lips to turn upwards slightly and look at you with kind eyes.

“Don’t apologize.” He spoke gently to you. “You were manipulated when you were feeling so low. The only one to blame for this… is the man with the butterflies.”

You sniffled. “But I should have fought harder… I should have… I should have been more like you, Todoroki-kun.”

Todoroki shook his head. “I’m not as strong as I appear. I get mad too often at my family’s past. I can’t relate to others well or melt into a group dynamic well. The only reason I’ve been able to fight off Monarch… is because I’ve been manipulated at my lowest before… and thus, I can recognize now when people generally want to help me or not.”

You stood in silence from another one of Todoroki’s infamous spills of information. He looked so calm despite speaking about such horrible things. How he could make it seem so easy was a mystery to you. 

“You’re always showing me how much more amazing you are every time we talk, Todoroki-kun.” You breathed out, wiping the tears away. “And thank you… I appreciate you trying to help.”

Todoroki frowned a little, seeing that despite the words being ones to show you were fine now… it was clear you still were not. He knew he was being invasive asking so many questions, but he genuinely was worried for you and wanted to just make sure you were okay.

“Do you want to talk about what caused it?” He asked, seeing as your face suddenly grew a bit redder.

You moved forward, not saying anything, seeming too embarrassed to do so. But only to stop once more as you had passed where Todoroki was standing in the middle of the apartment covered city street.

“I-I…. I tried to ask Bakugou-kun out.” You breathed out slowly.

You had intended to move past this subject at first, but after passing Todoroki, it seemed the only thing you wanted to hide from him was your blushing face and how you were cringing at your own actions from this morning.

Todoroki’s eyes widened and his breathing hitched slowly. You asked Bakugou out? Well… he supposed that settled it then. He exhaled slowly, walking forward to look at you. Gently he reached you and placed a hand on your back as if to stabilize you.

Truthfully… it was a bit weird and awkward for him to do so, but it was Todoroki and you had a feeling this was his attempt at giving a kind and gentle pat to settle you. So you let it stay, for his attempt.

“You like Bakugou then?” Todoroki asked you, voice wavering a moment before it came back to its usual state.

“Yeah…” You breathed out. “I don’t know when it started or what made him seem so attractive in my eyes… but I guess when you catch clumsy me so many times… my heart decides you were the one who it wanted.”

You chuckled slightly, showing your slight uncomfortableness speaking about this topic. Todoroki hummed softly, closing his eyes and letting the revelations sink in. You had made your choice… and what type of person would he be if he didn’t respect it and support you?

He didn’t want to be like his father, thus… he knew.

He knew that his love for you from this point on… needed to be supporting you in your own matters of the heart. He would settle for being your friend. He cherished you as a friend already… and thus, he would do this. Because he cared for your feelings as much as he did his own.

He had lost in the quest for your affections. But… he’d lose with grace and rise from its ashes with a new outlook on what you and he would be together.

“What happened?” He asked.

“I asked him out… and he just looked at me.” You admitted.

Todoroki’s mouth opened slowly before it closed. “Well… I think you might have shocked him into silence.”

You blinked, finally turning and showing your red face to Todoroki. Eyes wide and unsure of what he was talking about.

“Huh?” It was all you could mutter.

“Bakugou seems confident, but from the interactions he has with other classmates… I’ve been getting a feeling he’s just as socially awkward as me. Though… he’s better at masking it.” Todoroki deadpanned. “Through the usual anger of his.”

Your hands flew to the sides of your face. “Oh Gods… so me asking him out might have broken him?!”

“Probably.” Todoroki was blunt. “I doubt he ever thought of what to do in that situation, so he went silent because his brain couldn’t process it.”

You groaned, motioning forward. “Well… that’s a lot to take in… so, let’s let me process it for now. So, can you finish walking me home, Todoroki-kun?”

The male nodded, walking beside you once more. No longer as a potential love, but now as a permanent friend. His heart still ached for you, but he knew that time was kind to those who tried. And for Todoroki… while he didn’t get what he wanted in the end and he knew it would take time to truly get over his feelings for you and accept what this relationship would be, as well as your potential one with Bakugou…. He would be able to.

Because… when you truly cared for someone… you helped them find their own happiness. It was as his mother taught him… and how he would repair the relationship with both her and now you.

~~~~~

You hummed gently as you gazed out at the vast city lights. Living in a luxury apartment was nice… but it would be nicer if your parents didn’t bring exhibits home with them. Currently, your living room was filled with bones. As for what kind of bones… your mother and father were working hard to find out.

The school had called about what happened, and your parents talked to you a bit. You assured them you were fine and that a good friend helped work out your feelings when he walked you home. And thus… the two had let you be as you gazed out at the city once more.

Plagg still didn’t come back. And your heart ached to see him again. You missed your lazy little kwami. But you knew… you knew that if you could become an akuma victim, you didn’t deserve to have a kwami in the first place.

So… hopefully RB would keep him.

“It’s fucking annoying to climb all the way up here.”

Speak of the devil and he shall come it seemed.

You whipped around, looking upwards and saw the two beings you had just been thinking about. Plagg zoomed down to you in a hurry, leaving RB’s shoulder where he had just been resting on.

He excitedly held out his gem to you, but you backed up. Plagg looking at you with wide eyes, trying again, but you refused to take it. The kwami looking back at RB, slight glare telling the male hero to step in… as it was exactly as the kwami said it would be.

RB sighed. “Yeah… I know…” He jumped down from the roof he was sitting on.

You crossed your arms. “So… Plagg told you?”

“No… I’ve known for about three weeks. I… saw you transform back after the Midoriya incident…” Red Beetle admitted, seeing your eyes widen.

“So you… your kwami and Plagg all knew!” You called out, tears bubbling. “Why am I upset? It’s obvious why you kept it from me… I can’t be trusted with anything, much less a miraculous and a kwami!”

RB rose his hands. “H-hey… calm down. I came to talk… not just give you your shitty kwami back.”

“Hey!” Plagg called out. “Hurry and tell her, or I will cause another ice age here and now!”

Ignoring the disturbing comment from the kwami, RB sighed. “Fine…. Tikki… detransform me.”

You covered your eyes with your hands as a soft light took up the balcony. You didn’t know why, but you were nervous to know who it was you had been hanging out with this entire time. Something about RB made you comfortable 'cause you didn’t know him and he didn’t know you beyond a mask… but now… it was as if you were being forced to pull off a bandaid when the wound wasn’t done healing.

“Come one moron… look at me.” You recognized the voice now, the magic his kwami gave him no longer saving his identity.

You shook your head. The ash-blonde as a result taking things into his own hands. His hands gripping yours and gently pulled your hands off. Carmine eyes meeting your own, your eyes confirmed who it was that Red Beetle was.

Bakugou moved away after a moment, looking slightly bashful. “So… it’s me.”

“I-I can see.” You muttered back.

Tikki and Plagg both hovered nearby, looking at one another and seeing they needed to push their holders a bit more. Tikki flying towards Bakugou and motioning for him to talk again. Meanwhile, Plagg had finally forced his miraculous into your hand again, changing it back into a necklace.

“Come on! We practiced all afternoon!” Tikki spoke, urging Bakugou.

Bakugou cleared his throat. “Yeah….”

Bakugou stepped forward to you once more. He did a quick dip, and you assumed it was him bowing to you. He looked back up at you, face red and eyes wide as he started speaking.

“I-I’m…. Sorry…. For hurting you earlier. I wasn’t sure how to react and the way I did so was really… poor.” He breathed out, Tikki nodding him along. “A-and if you’re still willing… I’d like for Kuro to keep being my partner… and… to see that…. Movie…”

By the end of it, he looked truly out of his element. It was your turn to be stunned into silence now. And before you could reply, the door to your room was being opened. Bakugou quickly transforming back and jumping away as your mother entered, luckily not seeing anything.

“(Name), Dolion is here. He wants to make sure you’re okay.” Your mother spoke and then blinked. “Are you okay? Your face is really red.”

“I-I’m fine, mom!” You called out waving your hands back and forth. “I was just… practicing what to say tomorrow to my classmates as an apology. And got a little embarrassed!”

Your mother nodded. “Okay, well hurry and come out. Dolion brought food… and you know your father and him are going to argue about him putting more junk food into the house. So hurry before the night goes awry.”

She was gone a moment later and you looked up towards RB. He looked down at you. You slowly put your miraculous back on and smiled towards the male.

“I’m free this weekend… I’d love to see a movie, Bakugou.” You spoke to him softly.

Red Beetle only nodded before taking off. Leaving you unaware of the smile on his face, or how despite how the day had nearly turned out terrible… it somehow by some miracle… worked out.

And now… only time would tell what would come out of this sprouting relationship between you and him.

  
  
  
  
  



	30. Aftermath and After Thoughts

Ch.30 - Aftermath and After Thoughts

You sighed in an exhausted manner, looking around the city from where you stood on the balcony of your little outside space. The kwami sleeping happily inside your jacket pocket, the cold seeming to make him want to doze more and more.

Today had been filled with all sorts of situations and words that had made you nervous. From making an apology to what had happened to then trying to move past what had happened… you were jumpy the entire day.

No one seemed to blame you though. With akuma attacks becoming more and more frequent, the response to blame the victim at first had passed. And now, everyone was quick to jump onto the supporting role. And while you were grateful for their kind words and feelings towards your former despairing emotional state… you currently didn’t want to think too much on it, or even explain what had caused it.

Everyone understood, saying they’d always be here if you changed your mind. And that was where the conversation was left on.

The other part of your day that made you a bit awkward though, was that you and Bakugou had a date tonight. And all day at school… it seemed neither of you really knew what to do or say to one another. 

This was beyond a simple admission of feelings, this was also an admission of identities. And you were trying to deal with it as best as you could. But it was awkward, and hopefully when he got here and this date started… you two could blow past this weird air that had settled in suddenly.

The sounds of the doorbell ringing made you inhale slowly. It looks like he was the punctual type at least. You brushed your clothing off once, moving a drowsy Plagg to rest in a small hip purse now. The kwami muttering something about not waking him up with too much noise or action.

You merely rolled your eyes, looks like he was treating this like it had never happened. Unlike you who was trying to figure out exactly where the norm was and how to get there again. But now wasn’t the time to be making complicated decisions or asking brain-rattling questions.

Right now, you needed to get to the door and out before your mother could do anything embarrassing.

You arrived right as she was opening the door, looking a bit confused that there was a teenage boy on the other side. Bakugou looked past your mother, nodding to you as you came out to join him.

“I’ll be back later, mom.” You told her, your mother frowning.

“First your father leaves me for Dolion… and now you leave me too (Name)?” Your mother shook her head. “Oh well… guess I can order myself a nice dinner and have a quiet house.”

You smiled towards your mom, hugging her quickly as thanks for not prying into stuff. You’d spill the beans about a possible boyfriend later, but right now… you just wanted to go.

“Don’t stay out too late.” Your mother nodded, waving slightly before she shut the door.

You sighed in relief as you and Bakugou started to walk towards the elevator. His steps falling into line with your own. Neither of you speaking as the elevator rose to the floor you were on. 

“Your mom seems nice…” He commented. 

“She’s great. Doesn’t pry every two minutes like my dad.” You laughed slightly. “Guess that’s what happens when my dad is the guy looking for answers and my mom is the one to take proper care and display them.”

“They seem like opposites… your parents.” Bakugou clarified at the end.

“Yeah… my dad is kinda the outlier among my family. My mom, uncle and I all get along really well and have similar personalities. But, my dad is still great… just not at being easy-going and un…. Stressed.”

The pair of you entered the elevator as the doors opened. Selecting the button for the ground floor as it started to go down. The conversation continuing after a moment.

“What about you? Do you get along with your mom?” You ask him, it starting to dawn on you that you barely knew anything about Bakugou.

Bakugou’s face dropped a moment later. “She’s a damn old nagging hag…”

You blinked, having not expected that response. “O-Oh… so you must get along better with your dad then?”

Bakugou clicked his tongue. “Not really… the guy has no backbone. Doesn’t even fucking curse…”

Your lips curved into a smile, a small laugh escaping your lips. “You know that cursing isn’t something everyone does, right?”

Bakugou shrugged, walking out as you both finally reached the bottom floor. You following after him, happy to see him pause before the both of you exited into the chilly evening air.

“Where are we going?” You asked, seeing him point down the street.

“Down the street, to the station and then two stops west.”

“To the mall?”

“Yeah.”

You nodded, following him. Silence once more greeting the pair of you.

This was a lot harder than either of you knew. Aside from school, family, and kwamis… there wasn’t much either of you knew the other had or was interested in. Yes, you both felt there was a connection between you… but now when that connection was looking to grow, neither of you had the proper tools to do it.

Or the social skills to attempt to talk to one another. Instead, you were left trying to guess what the other had an interest in. In fact… what movie were you even going to see? You both had decided on the time but was there even a movie playing you’d both want to see, and at the time you’d arrive?

Maybe this was a mistake… maybe you were moving too fast again? Maybe you should just stop it right now before-

“Sightings of two heroes were reported at Yuuei Academy yesterday morning. However, according to witnesses, it appeared to be two males this time rather than the male-female team that has been reported on in incidents prior. IF anyone has any more information, please contact your local police station.”

The female reporter on the tv display of a local electronics store finished her story. Both you and Bakugou pausing to look and listen. It seemed that the news was relentless in smearing your names as much as the cops and your own father was…

Bakugou stiffened slightly, looking at you with wide eyes. You blinked, looking at him curiously. 

“You are the museum informant!” He spoke, and you chuckled.

“Guess it’s easy to guess now that you know I’m Kuro too.” You nodded, giggling slightly.

“Your dad is a fucking stick in our asses you know…” Bakugou huffed continuing on, with you following him.

“Can you really blame him though? He just wants his gems back.” You tried to be peaceful.

“They aren’t his… if anything they’reyours since you fucking found them…” Bakugou clicked his tongue.

You shrugged. “You’re not wrong, but… the archeologist who finds treasures like this gets some pretty heavy attention. And unlike me… my father can handle it well.”

“Doesn’t mean he has to be an asshole to us…”

“I’m sure he’ll drop it once we stop Monarch and explain everything. After all… the only time we’re ever seen is when the city is getting destroyed.”

Bakugou huffed, crystalized breath coming from him. The pair of you walking up the stairs to the station, only to see it was empty. It seemed the cold temperatures were making rational people stay indoors.

Bakugou inhaled slowly, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get past this unless he got this off his chest. He turned to look at you slowly, seeing you unwrap some cheese before putting it inside your purse. 

He quickly did the same with a candy bar for his own kwami in his small backpack before looking towards you again. The train was still another ten minutes away… so time was on his side to ask.

“What was it like…” He started, feeling a dryness grow in his throat. “To be… akumatized.”

You stiffened slightly, and then eased yourself back down from the memories that were still blurry, but starting to clear ever so slowly. It was healthy to talk about it, and while you feared not having anything in common with Bakugou… you knew he might be one of the few people to truly understand… seeing as you both were targets that day.

Only you were the one to bite the bullet.

“It was like… all my rationality was erased and replaced by this need and desire to get this twisted version of justice accomplished.” You spoke, running a hand down your arm in some kind of comfort.

“Did you see him?” Bakugou asked, watching you shake your head.

“It was weird… in the moment I felt like I did. I felt like I saw him… but now looking back, it wasn’t a face I was seeing… it was the illusion of a savior who promised to take all my pain and turn it into a strength. But… it wasn’t the type of strength that’s good for you… as I’m sure you saw.”

Bakugou nodded. “You... looked to be hurting even more.”

“I was in a lot of pain… my mind only wanted to do what it thought would make me feel better… and I guess, in my weak and vulnerable emotional state… it was trying to control the lives of others so I wouldn’t feel so… isolated and unaware.”

You didn’t say anything after that, instead inhaling slowly. Bakugou glanced towards your open hand, considering if he should try to grab it. He too was feeling the strain of this first date and wondered if he was even doing any of this right.

So far he had talked shit about his family and asked you about a trauma you went through yesterday. Yes… he was definitely the most perfect gentleman of them all when it came to romance.

So instead, he kept his hands buried in his pockets. Only muttering out the first thing that came into his head, frustration with himself and Monarch clearly taking the reigns at this moment.

“I can’t wait until the day I can beat the shit outta that butterfly asshole…” Bakugou breathed out. “For fuck’s sake… I just wanna do it right now.”

Another moment of silence, this time with the background noise of the automated announcer telling the pair of you that the train would be arriving in about a minute. A cold breeze quickly blowing through before making the air still again.

After that… you finally responded back to the ash blonde male.

“Well… there’s nothing really stopping us, right?” You blinked, Bakugou looking at you with wide eyes.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He breathed out.

“Us beating the shit out of Monarch?” You shrugged. “I mean… we know each other beyond the mask, we have the resources… and I may have been scheming up a plan to try and find Monarch, and where the other two miraculous could have gone.”

Bakugou blinked, not even noticing the sounds of the train arriving until the small number of people who got off here left.

“So… you’re saying it’s time we take the offensive, huh?” Bakugou’s lips started to turn upwards. “Fucking perfect then… I’m better at offensive anyway.”

You nodded back, the pair of you boarding the train towards your destination. Your eyes locking with him for a moment. The feeling of awkwardness dissipating as the doors closed and blocked out the chilly frigid air.

Both of you finding two seats beside one another and chatting further. This time, with more confidence to find something in common, to find a solution… and to find a better tomorrow.

Monarch might still have the upper hand at this moment… but now with both you and Bakugou on the same page… it would only be a matter of time until this was over.

And both of you were sure… it would end with a victory on your side. 

  
  



	31. New Strength and New Plans

Ch.31 - New Strength and New Plans

He had been inactive these last few weeks, wanting to bide his time and work out all the possible edges of this new scheme. And now that he had run through all the possible outcomes, and waited patiently for the emotional event that would cause it all… the man with the purple cufflink attached a near-matching cufflink onto his other side. This one a dark blue color.

He had come close last time, and it was now that he realized exactly what he did to make it work so well. He needed to stop focusing on people who were facing a little dip in their emotional state. He needed someone in the same state (Name) had been left in.

So low and defeated that her life no longer had any sort of fix… and thus made her open to his aid. People who were backed against a wall… were much better subjects to receive his gifts. And he knew it now, so he would act upon this new discovery now.

He smirked to himself proudly, seeing as already he could feel the effects of using two different miraculous. The dormant powers were bouncing off one another and molding already. And with the butterfly miraculous lighting up to alert him that the person in question he had become familiar with through his emotional powers these last two weeks was having a rather bad episode… he knew it was time.

The downfall of the heroes who had gotten in his way from the beginning was now… and he was eager to see exactly how this peacock worked and if it would be as powerful as the ancient texts described its power as.

Transforming himself, seeing the new color mixed with the old, he pulled out a feather and a butterfly. A little energy absorbed into them and soon, they were flying off towards his new muse.

The small child who was once more hiding in fear… asking for someone to come save her. Time after time of abuse and protective services unable to do anything made her emotions particularly open. Her one wish… was for a hero. Soon enough… she’d be able to get plenty of heroes thanks to her wish being granted by him. And in return, she’d be the starting strand of his new scheme and the power he was blessing her with.

~~~~~

The freshly fallen snow was not helping his mood. Nor was it helping in his quest to find wherever the cat had run off to. She had insisted on them meeting up in costume tonight, but it seemed his idea of her having found some lead on Monarch was false.

Red Beetle felt a sudden coldness hit him, literally. The snow falling off his red dipped locks and onto his back. The sounds of chuckling coming from his back right. He grabbed a ball of snow himself and tossed one back.

Kuro’s chest being hit directly, and she scampered off somewhere else to prepare her snowballs and try to ambush him again. RB was not having any more of it though, and so while Kuro was distracted, he jumped above silently, spotting her and watching for a moment.

She was quietly laughing to herself, Throwing a snowball to an empty area in an attempt to make him think she was over there. And then looking out and throwing a snowball to where he guessed he would be. 

Instead, she looked worried to not see him, and RB took it as his time to jump down from where he was. He wrapped her up in his arms, rolling on the snow-covered rooftop with her for a moment. The sounds of her happily laughing.

“Okay! Okay! You win, buggy boy!” Kuro’s laughter was making it hard for her to breath.

“Shouldn’t have underestimated me, cat.” RB blew air into her ear, making the catgirl squirm.

“So cruel!” She chuckled, relaxing in his arms.

“Done being a little scamp?” He asked her, letting her go once she nodded. “Dumb girl… making me come out into this cold ass weather cause you were bored.”

“Don’t start with me!” Kuro whined. “I barely saw you all week! I wanted to spend some time with my… boyfriend.”

The word was still new… and needed a little more getting used to.

Red Beetle rolled his eyes. “Should have texted me to come over…”

“This was more fun.” Kuro chuckled, standing up and helping RB onto his feet.

“Well… we could ditch the costumes, give the kwamis some food to shut them up… and we could go get some dinner ourselves? Sound fucking good to you?” RB suggested, seeing Kuro’s eyes widen.

“Really!? Then yes-” She started only to suddenly draw her fan and send a gust of wind behind RB’s left shoulder.

Someone called out in pain, as the sounds of crashing came. And then… another grunt.

Kuro looked at Red Beetle and he back at her. Ambush… and it meant Monarch, was up and ready for another battle. 

But two? When had there ever been two? This was different, and with more noises coming close… it was clear two was not the number it would stay at. And the darkness was making it hard to see anyone or make anyone out.

The pair of you quickly pressed your back together, knowing the other would watch it with your life. Kuro’s fan extended and Red Beetle’s right pointer finger hooked onto the grenade pin. 

“I see two…” Kuro mumbled eyes keen on who was watching her from across the rooftop.

“Three… four.” RB bit his lip.

They had already been outnumbered rather quickly. It was only a matter of time now until one of them started attacking as well. His brow scrunching together, trying to think of some sort of plan… but his mind could only come up with one.

He knew it was early… but it had always been the thing to turn the tides their way before. RB nudged Kuro lightly, telling her he was acting and needed her support. She nodded in response, her fan at the ready to push back anyone who got too close with a powerful gust of wind.

“Lucky fucking charm!” Red Beetle shouted, tossing one grenade up into the air.

It burst open, but before Red Beetle had the chance to catch it, someone came from above, snatching the object and holding it in their hands. A female was gently floating in the air from wherever she had just come from, looking down at the pair.

RB growled, looking towards his object of help in her hands, wanting nothing more than to steal it back himself. The sparkly object glimmering in the reflecting lights from the snow. Kuro’s eyes catching onto it, her pounding her stopping suddenly.

It seemed for the first time that she knew what RB’s lucky charm was for before he did.

Snatching RB’s hand in her own, Kuro shot him a wink. RB looking at her in confusion before his mouth was left wide open. Kuro smirked, holding up her fan.

“It was nice meeting you all… but RB and I have more important things to do…” Kuro stuck her tongue out in a teasing way. “Cataclysm!”

The cat hero drove her hand down onto the ground, shattering where her and RB stood. The now ruined ceiling of this factory turning to dust. The pair of heroes disappearing before any of their sudden adversaries could act.

The red and black object disappearing in one of their hands at the moment next. It looked like the heroes had taken this moment not only to run but blend in. They were gone… but Monarch knew they’d be back.

If this city they loved so much was put into further danger… then they’d come running to their end. And to the loss of their power.

~~~~~

You tugged Bakugou’s hand as you ran down the crowd growing street. It seemed your little stunt had caused a swerve of people to arrive at the scene and see what exactly had happened.

Bakugou ran with you, not exactly sure what was happening quite yet, but he had a feeling if you were in this much of a hurry… then you had something important you needed to take him to.

After about twenty minutes of running without so much as stopping or trying to cue him in on what was in your head, you finally stopped. It looked as if the pair of you had arrived at the docks. The silence of the area making it seem that much more eerie on this cold winter night.

“Why are we here?” Bakugou finally spoke, attempting to catch his breath.

“Simple…” You smiled, pointing to a specific building. “We need to borrow some things…”

Bakugou rose a brow. “And what exactly is in that building?”

You were about to open your mouth to speak when a black kwami came zipping out from your bag. Plagg eagerly looking towards the locked door. 

“Is it finally time to put my nature to good use?!” He called out excitedly.

“So long as you stick to the plan we talked about.” You told the black kwami.

Plagg nodded, zipping over to Bakugou’s own bag. He disappeared inside for a moment before pulling Tikki out. The poor red kwami having to quickly stuff the rest of her candy down before Plagg motioned for her to follow him.

You signaled for Plagg to do his thing, taking Tikki with him. The pair were gone for a moment, and then suddenly the locked door creaked open. You and Bakugou rushing inside and taking a look around.

Tikki was shaking her head. “Absolutely not! We can’t do that Plagg!”

“Oh, come on, Sugar Cube! Only you and I can make sure the alarms don’t get tripped!” Plagg blurted out, passing through security camera after security camera, breaking each of them as he did so.

“What the hell are we doing… and what is this place?” Bakugou spoke deeply, obviously not liking the feeling of being out of the loop.

Tikki flew towards Bakugou. “Plagg this is a bad idea! You’ve corrupted (Name) into thinking this is a good idea, and Bakugou and I won’t stand for it!”

Tikki turned to her holder. “Bakugou! Plagg wants to steal the other miraculous for you all to use! And this is the museum’s secret warehouse they use to store the materials not on exhibit!!”

Bakugou blinked, looking towards you. You were pointing somewhere, instructing Plagg where to go next. He grabbed your shoulder, turning you around to face him.

“We are not taking anything. Your family’s museum warehouse or not… if we take those shitty jewels, we’ll be real fucking criminals!” He tried to talk you out of it.

“That’s why Plagg and I have been making these since we lost another miraculous…” You spoke to him, opening a part of your bag with a small zipper.

Inside were tiny little imitation miraculous. One of each… even the ones missing. Bakugou’s eyes widened, looking towards you.

“It’ll work… I have a good eye for this stuff. We can’t let Monarch take anymore… and I know they’ll be safe with us…”

You sharply took in a breath. “We can get people we trust to use some of them, and we can even double up ourselves! There is an army out there trying to get us, Bakugou… we need the extra power and extra support.”

You were right in a way… you both needed to pull something big since Monarch currently was. And with this, it might do it for you. And it didn’t have to be forever, you all could return the miraculous when done… this wasn’t permanent, was it?

Bakugou inhaled slowly. Was he really considering doing this? 

The lucky charm did indeed show a miraculous gem… but taking them? And using them… was it safe? Was it right?

Now might not be the best time to decide, but it was the only moment they had. And he had to make a decision.


	32. Desperate Plans and Gathering Allies

Ch.32 - Desperate Plans and Gathering Allies

Bakugou exhaled, looking towards you with a frown. You looked back at him, eyes telling him that while you knew this wasn’t a good thing to do… desperate times did mean desperate actions. And with the current akuma situation still unknown, aside from the large mass of people that had attacked them… it was clear gaining a few more powers or allies would be helpful.

“Fine… we’ll do this. But we get them all back afterward, and we decide on what to do without this pressure.” He narrowed his eyes. “Got it?”

You nodded, handing Plagg and Tikki the imitation gems as they started to drag miraculous out and replace them. 

“Understood. Conversation not over! Now! What new ability would you like, I’ll let you have first pick!” You spoke, opening up your phone and showing him a picture of the grimoire.

“I forgot you could read this old ass language.” He commented as you zoomed in on a description.

“Helps when your family knows lots of dead languages.” You chuckled. “Or in this case, ancient Chinese. Anyway, let’s see what the descriptions for these are…”

Your eyes scanned over them quickly and you nodded. “Okay… the ones I can read are these thirteen. The last five are a bit faded, but I’ll work on trying to decipher them later. And seeing as Tikki, Plagg’s are already used by us, and we don’t have the butterfly or peacock… that leaves us, nine miraculous.”

“So two for use and we get seven people we can fucking trust to use the other ones?” Bakugou rose a brow.

You nodded. “You’re reading my mind! Now… would you like the power of illusion, subjection, protection, multiplication, elements, jubilation, teleportation, restriction, or intangibility?

Bakugou thought over his options. He should choose a miraculous that would work with Tikki, but on the other hand… some abilities were valued more than others. Slowly he pointed towards the brown gem.

“Teleportation?” You handed the gem over to him, watching as it turned into another ring, much like Tikki’s miraculous was for him. “I thought for sure you’d take the restriction one… it does give you the ability to freeze time for ten seconds…”

“You take that one.” He nodded towards you. “It’ll give you more options with your kwami.”

You hummed lightly, touching both the black gem and seafoam green gem. The two transforming together to make a charm bracelet. A moment later, two more kwamis appearing beside the both of you. A horse with an unsatisfied look, and a snake with a calm expression.

“We should trade holders, Sass.” The horse floated away from Bakugou. “This girl is much more suited to my tastes then this boy.”

“Kaalki!” Tikki zoomed over. “Bakugou is an excellent holder, give him a chance!”

Kaalki rolled her eyes but returned to Bakugou’s side. Tikki handing you the last of the miraculous before going as well. Meanwhile, Plagg was happily zooming around Sass.

“Oh, this is going to be interesting! Destruction and Time Freezing!” Plagg was ecstatic to give this a try.

“That’s exactly why we must still be responsible.” Sass spoke. “Not only are we dealing with more powers, but a further mixing of human and kwami personalities. If one of us doesn’t work… the others could suffer. So let’s all do our best to work together.”

“You’re a wise little snake, aren’t you?” You hummed happily, looking towards the snake and cat charms on your temporary bracelet. “Okay! But it’s time to go! Sass! Plagg! Transform me!”

Bakugou blinked as the light came up quickly, reopening his eyes when it faded. Kuro stood by happily, hands on her hips. Her costume had changed a little, the black fabric and armor now having a more scaly pattern. Her pupils were more snake-like as well but still remained in that familiar cat-like double color.

“Well? Do I look cool?”

“A freak of nature is more like it…” Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Tikki. Kaalki. Transform me!”

Kuro clapped her hands in slight excitement as Red Beetle showed up. His black dots were now a dark brown, as well as a few of his red dipped tips now being brown. Other then that, he didn’t change much. No horse designs anywhere… seeming like he wanted to keep with his bad boy hero look.

“Alright… we have seven left. So, you take three and get help. I’ll take four.” Kuro spoke, grabbing four of the miraculous she had left out instead of putting in her civilian self’s pockets for the miraculous she didn’t know.

“Meet at Tokyo Tower when we’ve gotten our help.” Red Beetle grabbed him, and then paused. “Don’t get yourself fucking killed, catgirl…”

Kuro nodded slowly. “Same to you then… I’ll miss you too much.”

RB rolled his eyes. “Cut the mushy shit until later. We have a city to fucking save from the brinks of destruction… again…”

Kuro watched as he leaped off, knowing full well who she would be seeking out. 

~~~~~

The news was doing its best to keep people updated on the situation. But with every camera operator and field reporter all coming down with the same illness only to be transformed in the next moment into some super-powered villain… it was clear something strange was going on.

Todoroki couldn’t keep his eyes off the screen. Even Midoriya’s pacing in the background was being dulled out, until Midoriya started to speak.

“I’m not getting a hold of my mom…” He breathed out. “She went out to go check on that girl from the case she’s been working on to see if they could remove her… but she’s not picking up.”

“Kuro and Beetle still haven’t shown up…” Todoroki muttered, wondering what was happening.

“I wonder if they are okay… it’s unlike them to… not show up.” Midoriya breathed out.

A sudden knocking coming from the nearby window made Midoriya leap, while Todoroki only turned to look. A black cat was banging her hand against the window, asking to get in.

Todoroki did so immediately. Kuro walked in, holding up her hand before Midoriya could start asking questions.

“We are on a time crunch… so long story short… RB and I need some help. You guys interested in being superheroes for the evening?”

Midoriya’s eyes lit up. “Really?!”

Todoroki looked even a little intrigued.

Kuro laughed happily. “Looks like I’ve got some takers. Alright… for you Midoriya, I thought the rabbit would be fitting. It’ll grant you-”

“The power of intangibility!” Midoriya happily called out, then blushed. “I-I’ve been researching the miraculous myself… plus, I remember a few things from when I was akumatized about powers.”

“Well, you’ll make a great hero then.” Kuro tossed him the gem, it turning into a light blue bracelet as Midoriya caught it.

“As for you Todoroki… I have a bigger task from the person I hear can fight off akumas.” Kuro held out a yellow and light red pair of gems. “So… do you think you can handle the power of the elements and paralysis?”

Todoroki nodded, the pair turning into a set of thumb rings. “I’ll do my best then.”

“Perfect! Then introduce yourselves to the kwamis quick and then let’s transform… we still need to find one more person who can take the mouse miraculous…”

Midoriya blinked as something came into his mind. “Kuro… do you want a suggestion?”

Kuro looked towards the green-haired male as Todoroki was speaking to the bee and dragon before him. “Yes! Please!”

Midoriya nodded as he put the bracelet on, a bunny kwami appearing. “D-do you know who Shinsou Hitoshi is?”

~~~~~

“Really you want me to help?” Kirishima’s face was a bright smile as he held onto the green gem. “Oh man! I won’t let you down then, RB!” 

The ash blonde sighed, waiting as Kirishima took his sweet ass time talking to Wayzz and then asking a few questions. He still had two more people to go… and he wasn’t looking forward to tracking down Dunce Face and giving him the monkey miraculous… or the headphone girl and giving her the fox.

But it was for the greater good after all. And it was what Kuro wanted. He trusted her plan on his, he trusted her on this. And as such, he’d do this. Ge through these shitty social interactions.

After all, as soon as the day was saved, the quicker he could go back to trying to plan their next outing together. 

“Wayzz! Transform me!” Kirishima’s shouting voice brought him back to reality. 

And from the empty training room, it seemed a red turtle hero was now here. The male flashing RB a smile. RB simply turned, walking away.

“We got two more shits to find… and think of a name!” RB shouted, not waiting for his friend to catch up.

This was going to be a long night...

~~~~~

Shinsou watched with wide eyes from the cafe he was sitting in. The yells and screams of people getting attacked by what looked to be small little dots. The bodies of the people outside falling to the ground and becoming a deep white until a black butterfly came and landed on them. The person waking up a moment later, but now with a deep hating look and powers

This was beyond Monarch… as he wasn’t this powerful. Something else was at play here. The cafe was now in chaos. People getting infected by these whites dots and falling over in despair before becoming new victims.

But how were their so many butterflies? Usually, it was just one.

And… why was he being ignored?

As he stood near a seat by the window, in shock and slight fear… nothing came near him. In fact, it was as if the dots and butterflies couldn’t see him. Thus leaving his feet frozen and unable to move, only able to witness this happening.

Or at least until he blinked and the entire scene changed. From the cafe to the roof of the cafe. Shinsou looking around, seeing a familiar sight and two new ones. Kuro smiled at him, the two other heroes behind her nodding towards him.

There was a male dressed like a dragon, specks of red, blue, yellow, and white littering his outfit that looked to be light armor. Next to him was another male, this one with a rabbit-like a hood, and a similar-looking type of thin armor. As well as gloves and boots that looked reinforced.

“Here you go, Sass.” Kuro spoke, feeding a flying snake like creature. “Eat up quick, we have more work to do.”

“What’s… happening?” Shinsou rose a brow, Kuro looking towards him and holding out a pink gem.

“We need help… and I was told you’d make an excellent hero.” Kuro smiled. “So? Want to join a team of superheroes for the night?”

Shinsou blinked a few times before closing his eyes. He chuckled to himself softly before reaching out and taking what Kuro had been holding out to him. A smirk rising to his features.

“Well… if the hero who helped me to see I need to work harder to be better thinks I’m worthy… I can’t say no.”

Kuro nodded. “Welcome to the team then.” 

She had her allies down… now it was time to meet RB and get everyone on the same page.

~~~~~

“We made it!” Kuro shouted, looking back towards her new recruits. “How did everyone do?”

“Just fine.” The dragon hero shrugged, looking towards his other three new companions.

The rabbit was a little winded, but not from exhaustion. Instead, Usagi looked to be full of pure joy for another chance to play hero. The mouse silently nodding, not really feeling the need to speak. 

The sounds of more people arriving made all turn to see who had come. Luckily, it wasn’t the enemy. RB stood proudly, and Kuro waved towards him. He had actually managed to get his own help it seemed. 

A red turtle, blonde monkey, and finally a fox carrying a mini-harp on her back. It looks like he had recruited an interesting bunch. And while Kuro couldn’t know for sure… she had an idea of who were the people under the mask.

Aside from that… it looked like Kuro and Red Beetle had the same idea. Former akuma victims were for some reason unaffected by the state of this city… and Todoroki was some strange exception. Thus, the team might have an advantage.

But now… it was time to discuss the game plan and get this all sorted. It was time, to see how well this team would work out.

  
  



	33. A Miraculous Team and A Citywide Epidemic

33- A Miraculous Team and A Citywide Epidemic

“I think it would be best for us all to do a quick introduction before we all dive off into fighting.” Kuro nodded as the troops had a moment to take everyone in.

“Are you fucking serious?” RB sighed. “We’ve got people getting infected with some sort of weird magic disease and more akumas then we’ve seen and you want to do a fucking ice breaker?!”

Kuro smirked. “Well… would you rather me share the real names of everyone here… including yours?”

RB’s eye twitched. “You only know the name of three of em… and if you give away mine, I’m gonna give away yours…”

“I can make some pretty educated guesses since I know you pretty well now.”

“I’d like to fucking see you try, alley cat.”

“Oh! So mean!” Kuro feigned a strike to her heart.

“Wait… are you two…. Dating?” The fox girl asked, making both Kuro and Red Beetle back away from one another, red and pink on their cheeks.

“W-well… I suppose that’s the word to use…” Kuro coughed.

“What?! Really?!” The rabbit boy looked ecstatic. “I knew you two had a stronger relationship besides partnership!”

“Enough! Just do as the cat said…” RB grit his teeth. “Fucking got you assholes to fight, not make petty talk.”

Kuro rolled her eyes. “Okay, share your hero name, and what your power is. I’ll go first. I’m Kuro. Usually the holder of the cat miraculous, but today I also have the snake miraculous. So, not only can I destroy things, I can pause time for five seconds. Remember you can only use your power once!”

Kuro pointed towards the green-haired male. He stiffened suddenly and then inhaled slowly.

“I-I’m Usagi. Rabbit miraculous that allows me to become more agile and quick, as well as stealthy.”

“Ryujin.” The boy with the red and yellow hair spoke. “Dragon miraculous that allows me to use the elements, and the bee miraculous, which allows me to paralyze a target.”

“Oh man… the bee one sounds cool.” The monkey holder sighed, and then noticed everyone’s eyes on him. “Oh… I’m Sun. Monkey’s power is the ability to mess with other powers, I think? My explanation was rushed…”

“Well, mine wasn’t.” The fox shook her head. “Vixen. Fox miraculous. I can create illusions.”

“I’m the temporary holder of the turtle miraculous. I can create an unbreakable shield. And… I’ve always liked the TV hero, Crimson Riot growing up… so call me Crimson Turtle!” The male flashed a dazzling smile to everyone around him.

Usagi’s eyes lit up at the mention of a hero he also used to watch on TV when he was younger. But now wasn’t the time to get sidetracked as the last new hero started to speak.

“Nezumi. Mouse miraculous. I can multiply myself.” He stated simply.

Everyone turned to look towards RB, waiting for him. The ash-blonde haired male giving off a loud and annoyed sigh. “Fucking seriously?”

“You technically have a new power as well… so just explain it, buggy boy…” Kuro shook her head.

“Fucking fine…” He sighed. “Red Beetle. Ladybug miraculous… power of creation. Horse miraculous, the power to teleport.”

“Wait… your miraculous is a ladybug?” Sun snickered a little bit. “I thought it was a beetle this entire time.”

RB grabbed the monkey by the collar of his attire. The monkey looking terrified as RB stared him down.

“Fucking make fun of my miraculous again, and I will beat that smug look off your-”

Red Beetle didn’t even have a chance to finish his sentence as suddenly something came flying towards them. Good-sized chunks of debris were heading their way and immediately Kuro and Red Beetle flew into action.

“Send as many back as you can!” RB shouted, having one of his firewalls ready.

“Don’t waste your firewall… it’s only helpful with non-powered people…” Kuro reminded him.

“Is now the time to start fighting?” Ryujin asked as suddenly a ton of figures started to surround them.

“Yes… but-” Kuro smirked, throwing herself towards the female figure touching things and making them float. “Take it to the streets instead of the tower! We don’t want RB to have to use a lot of energy to fix the city!”

Kuro and one of the enemies were gone a moment later. And as soon as it had happened, everyone else seemed to jump into action as well. 

RB dodged someone shooting a strand of something towards him, the substance instead snagging Usagi and swinging him around.

Ryujin was quick though, bringing his sword forward and slicing the sticky paper and setting Usagi free. Usagi repaying the help a moment later as he used one of his gloves to land a powerful swing against a male who looked to be made of metal.

“Now’s the time to use the power right?!” Sun called out, holding onto his yoyo, lighting up a little bit as he twirled it.

“No! Not until we find out who the fucking akuma is!” Red beetle shouted. “For now, find the fucking akumatized object and break it!”

Everyone nodded, fighting further, trying to locate the object and smash it so RB could save these people.

Another female victim was throwing what seemed to be acid from her hands towards Vixen who was dodging with grace. A male was summoning a shadow bird and attacking Crimson Turtle. And finally, Sun was trying his best to take on a female who was literally creating anything she pleased. Lucky for the Monkey, the mouse was helping out.

Soon enough, everyone had a good idea of what the akumatized object was. In fact… it all seemed to be the same thing. A small little tech box attached to the hips of all the victims. No doubt what was originally a phone, now used as a way to communicate with the head victim and maybe even broadcast where the heroes were.

Monarch surely had an idea now that the usual bug and cat duo had expanded today… and he more than likely was sending more victims to attack them. Thus it was time to wrap this up and try to get a move on.

“Everyone have an idea where the akumatized object is?” Kuro shouted, pinning down the anti-gravity victim.

“Yes!” Everyone yelled back.

“On your call, RB!” Kuro spoke towards the male.

He was currently wrapped up in the tongue of some frog girl, but could still reach his purification grenade. Plus, Usagi looked ready to smash the device while he got ready to use one of his powers.

“Now!” Red Beetle shouted.

A unified sound of objects breaking was all RB needed to release his purification grenade. A bright light warping through the crowd. And when it was all over, it seemed everyone who had been unlike themselves moments ago, was now themselves once again.

“Oh… what happened?” Uraraka spoke, looking around.

“Long story short…” Kuro spoke, helping her up. “Monarch seems to be putting some kind of final plan into action… and well, you got involved.”

Among Uraraka were other familiar faces: Tsuyu, Mina, Iida, Sero, Tokoyami, and Yaoyorozu.

“Let us take you guys somewhere safe… and because we don’t know if you can get reinfected, stay inside and don’t go out until it’s safe again.” Kuro motioned for her allies to help take the others into the building nearby.

After helping them all in and Iida and Yaoyorozu promising to not unlock the doors or crack open a window until they saw RB’s ladybugs restoring everything. After that, it seemed another fight broke out quickly. 

Once more no one using their special power. But, with so many enemies all around them and seeming to not be stopping no matter what, it was starting to get hard to stay focused and not get a little exhausted.

Yes, the miraculous increased stamina and other attributes, but it didn’t mean the holders were infinitely powerful. And any pain sustained as the hero would still be present as the civilian… so one really did have to be careful. 

It might be magic, but it was not a miracle worker.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere!” Kuro shouted, pushing back yet another infected citizen. “We’re only going to exhaust ourselves by continually fighting an endless stream of attackers.”

“Well, we don’t exactly know who the fuck is doing this!” Red Beetle shouted back.

“The akuma victim should be somewhere safe… right?” Usagi spoke, kicking back someone reaching for his miraculous.

Kuro blinked and then nodded towards the rabbit. “That’s a good idea! If we see if there is a high concentration of people… then we might find the layer of whoever has been akumatized!”

“To the roofs then… they’ll have a harder time reaching us!” Crimson Turtle pointed to the rooftops.

Everyone leaped up quickly, taking a moment to catch their breath and look down at the people who were now trying to reach them. It was only a matter of time until the victims who had flying abilities reached them, so they couldn’t observe for long.

“So what now?” Vixen sighed, putting her harp back into its holder on her back.

“The city is big… I imagine the best solution would be to split up from here and then contact the others when and if they find something.” Ryujin commented.

“It’s a bad idea to split up though… so maybe we should stay in groups of two to make sure nothing happens to one of us.” Nezumi spoke, yawning a moment afterward. “And soon… it is getting late for some of us.”

“We should be trying to stop this quicker… so let’s go with that plan.” Kuro nodded, looking towards RB. “Okay leader, what groups do you think would work best?”

Red Beetle inhaled slowly. “Four groups of two, huh? Well… in that case, I think it would work out best if we try to keep a fucking match up the powers...”

He pointed towards Kuro. “You’re going with the dragon.”

Kuro blinked. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for me to go with you?”

RB crossed his arms. “Not this fucking time… I’m going with the monkey to make sure he doesn’t break shit.”

“Hey! I haven’t disrupted any powers yet! I’m waiting for the right moment as you told me!” Sun called out, looking irritated RB didn’t have much faith in him.

“Then we’ll put the mouse and rabbit, since they’re both vermin together… and finally the fox and turtle.” RB nodded. “Now get a move on, longer we fucking take, the worse things will get.”

RB dashed away a moment later, jumping from roof to roof. Sun sighing before following after him. Kuro shook her head, looking back towards the others, seeing that the pairs didn’t seem that upset.

“Rb and Sun are heading West… so we need to divide the South, East, and North parts of the city between us.” Kuro instructed the new heroes.

“We’ll go South.” Crimson Turtle spoke, Vixen nodding to him.

“I want to head East…” Usagi tapped his chin. 

“The hospital district?” Nezumi rose a brow.

“I’m worried about sick people… they might be in need of help.” Usagi exhaled looking towards Kuro with pleading eyes.

“Go then.” She nodded. “I know I can trust the guy who helped RB when I was out of town.”

Usagi smiled brightly, moving off towards the East with Nezumi a moment later. Leaving only the scaled cat and the venomous dragon left.

“So, I imagine this means we take the North?” Ryujin asked, Kuro nodding.

“Yes…” Kuro exhaled, looking ready to take off when the dragon was.

Her mind telling her that all would be fine, and soon enough… this would be over with. It had to be right? She had the support, the added powers, and the faith in those around her.

But even so… something inside of her was telling her this wasn’t the end of it. And the worst… had yet to come. But now wasn’t the time to think about it… now she needed to focus. And with that, her and the dragon-headed off.


	34. Piecing Together and Broken Pieces

34- Piecing Together and Broken Pieces

After over an hour of looking around areas, fighting off controlled citizens, and nearly calling Ryujin his actual name half a dozen times… a message finally came in. It seemed as though Usagi’s hunch had been correct, and was asking for backup for where he had found the akuma.

“The hospital?” Kuro spoke, raising her brow.

Ryujin’s eyes widened. “It couldn’t be…”

He took off a moment later, leaving Kuro to have to catch up to him. As she did, the cat could tell something was bothering the dragon.

“Is everything okay?” Kuro asked.

“I have a feeling… a certain child Midoriya has been seeing after they removed her from an abusive home… might be experiencing a bad episode.” He breathed, Kuro’s eyes widening.

A child? One from an abusive home?

If Ryujin was right… then it meant Monarch was targeting children now.

Just how low was he going to sink?

~~~~~

The pair of you arrived as soon as you could, seeing everyone else waiting. RB didn’t even give you a second to contain your breath, instead barging inside. As predicted, it looked as if the hospital had become a fortress.

Everyone was quickly putting up a fight, making the way down the hallways until the final boss seemed to appear. A small child no older than six was holding onto a stuffed doll that looked exactly like her, as well as having a horn on her head that was spewing out the infection dots. The doll also had butterflies falling from its fingers, and turning dark moments later.

“Time to use your powers guys…” Kuro muttered, quickly using her cataclysm to break down a wall and stop anyone else from coming in.

While the eight of you didn’t have time to discuss a plan… RB had already sent everyone a message saying what he wanted them to do. So now… it was time to see if they could follow through.

  
  


“Mirage!” Vixen called out, strumming her little harp.

Immediately, there was a bunch of copies of each of you. Eri rose her hand, asking her infected minions to strike. All she had to do was break the illusion to see where the real ones were. But as she tried to strike Nezumi, he didn’t break. Nor did the other four copies of him.

“Your turn.” Nezumi motioned towards Ryujin who dashed passed him.

“Ice dragon…” He mumbled, the combined powers of the water dragon and bee miraculous allowing him to do this.

Ryujin froze everyone in place, Crimson Turtle doing his step next. Using his force field, he trapped Eri inside. No one else can get infected now.

“Lucky charm.” RB spoke, grabbing the belt and tossing it towards Sun.

Kuro came near him, smiling as she tied an end of the belt to each of their wrists.

“On three.” Kuro nodded to RB.

“One.” Kuro spoke, seeing RB start to using his Voyage. “Two!”

“Three!” He shouted, pointing the voyage from in front of Kuro and Sun to the inside of Eri’s bubble.

Before Eri could escape though, Kuro froze time. She hurried into the portal, Sun following her. RB would close it not even a second after this time split was done. And then… it would be up to Usagi to increase his speed to snatch the amok or akuma as RB grabbed the other.

Things were falling into place nicely.

Kuro landed carefully behind Eri, Sun following her with the black and red belt still attached to their wrists. Kuro smiled, showing a two and then a one on her fingers before suddenly time started to flow once more.

“Uproar!” Sun called out loud, a small little stuffed doll appearing and he quickly held it out to Eri who looked at it with sad eyes.

The doll she held in her arms already having its smile turn into a frown as the little girl reached out to take the one the boy in the monkey-like costume was holding out to her. And the moment she did, everything seemed to crack.

The dots that had been pouring out of her horn stopped and her eyes widened. She dropped the little monkey doll and reached for the one that she had. But it was too late, as it seemed like RB had managed to get free and grabbed the doll.

At the same time, Usagi reached forward, grabbing onto the pin in the little girl’s hair and breaking it as RB ripped the doll. A dark blue feather and a dark purple butterfly flying out. RB making quick work of both.

“Time to restore things.” Kuro smiled, tossing the beetle the belt.

RB caught it and soon enough, it looked as if everything was back to normal once more. The little girl who had just been in reverted colors now once more back to normal, looking around confused and scared.

Nurses and doctors running out, as well as Midoriya’s mother who worked for Child Protective Services, wanting to see of Eri was okay.

“Eri-” Usagi tried to run forward, but someone held him back.

Kuro gave the hero a knowing look and the bunny boy nodded. He stepped back, looking towards his dragon friend. All was finally done here… which meant, it was time to give Kuro her gems back, and then see if Eri and everyone here was okay.

It was time, to say goodbye to the kwamis and the powers they had given them all… but hopefully not for the last time.

~~~~~

“Thank you again.” Midoriya spoke, hiding in an alleyway outside the hospital. “For… believing in me.”

Kuro shook her head, taking the next two miraculous from Todoroki who was also transforming back to his regular self.

“We couldn’t have done it without the both of you.” Kuro smiled, then pointed back to the hospital. “Now… go and make sure your loved ones are safe.”

Both the boys nodded, watching as Kuro left. Next was Nezumi… and luckily he was still standing right where she left him on the rooftop. The purple-haired male smiling towards the cat.

“My turn to give it back?” He chuckled, seeing Kuro nod.

“Yup… you sure it’s okay here?” Kuro asked him, seeing the male nod.

“Fire escape and I can slip away with the crowd of other confused bystanders.” He winked, a light enveloping him before Shinsou stood before the catgirl once more. “Feel free to come calling again whenever you need someone.”

“Of course.” Kuro nodded. “Good luck with getting into UA’s gifted program for the next year!”

Shinsou blinked once before a smirk broke out onto his face. Always the supportive cat it seemed… and one he knew he could put his faith into.

Elsewhere, a similar set of goodbyes were happening. The punk girl thanking the kwami before handing the orange gem over towards the beetle.

“It was fun… if not a little terrifying.” Jirou shrugged. “Make sure to take good care of Trixx.”

“Attached already?” RB smirked.

“Foxes are cute… can’t help it.” Jirou spoke, motioning towards the other two heroes still waiting. “Now hurry, they are due to transform back soon as well.”

Red Beetle waved goodbye and then motioned for Sun to be the next to give back his miraculous. Jirou was gone by the time RB and Sun landed. Right on time, it seemed as well, as once they landed, the miraculous ran out of energy and a tired little kwami flew out.

“Whoa!” Kaminari called out, catching the creature quickly. “Careful there, Xuppu…”

“Maybe you should be better about watching over me! I’m exhausted!” The monkey snarked back, jumping from Kaminari’s hands to RB’s extended hand. “Now… let me sleep…”

Kaminari nodded, handing the gem back. The kwami gone a moment later. The straw blonde looking a tad upset to say goodbye. RB rolled his eyes.

“World ends again… maybe I’ll come and find you…”

“Really?!” Kaminari was excited.

“Long as you aren’t a fucking akuma.” RB waved him off, gone a moment later.

Kaminari’s calls of how he’d stay positive at least reaching the hero who saw that Kirishima had returned back to normal in the time he was wrapping things up with Kaminari. The redhead getting up, Wayzz floating near him.

“I think this belongs to you.” Kirishima smiled brightly, holding out the miraculous. “And Wayzz, it was great to meet you.”

Kirishima inhaled deeply, a tear coming to his eyes. “I hope we’ll meet again, little buddy.”

“I’m sure we will. Thank you for your help, Kirishima Eijirou.” Wayzz spoke one last time before Red Beetle took the gem back.

“You did good.” RB spoke, pointing towards a rooftop entrance. “There’s the way down.”

Kirishima watched as he took off a moment later, no doubt to meet up with Kuro. The redhead smiling to himself, knowing that while he couldn’t share this experience with anyone… he would for sure always remember it.

~~~~~

Bakugou’s leg was shaking quickly, looking around from his balcony. You had said you would meet him at his house when all was said and done, but now… you were taking longer than he expected. Tikki and Kaalki resting peacefully and sharing a small box of chocolates.

The sight of something moving towards his home along the roofs of other homes was what made him relax. Looks like you were fine after all, he had no need to force Tikki to transform again and make sure none of the people you recruited had tried to keep their miraculous.

“Fancy meeting you here.” Kuro giggled, landing as a cat would on the railing of Bakugou’s balcony.

“Took you long enough.” Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Now get your ass inside and give the kwamis a rest.”

Kuro did so, her body enveloping in light gently as she came inside and Bakugou slammed his balcony door shut and then closed the blinds. You yawned tiredly, the last few hours had taken a lot out of you.

Sass and Plagg were laying on your shoulders, looking just as tired. It was no wonder… freezing time for a few mild seconds and bringing about the power of destruction took a lot out of you. As you imagined any miraculous would on the person using it.

“Tired?” Bakugou asked, noticing his two kwamis helping Plagg and Sass towards the food.

“A little.” You spoke, taking out the food you had brought as well.

As the kwamis ate, you and Bakugou started to take out the remaining miraculous. You frowned a moment, looking towards Bakugou. He rose a brow when he noticed you looking at him with a frown on your face.

“What?”

“I was just thinking…” You hummed. “All the kwamis deserve something to eat right?”

You gently touched all the miraculous, each of them turning into a various accessory as you did so. More kwamis appearing and going over to their friends as you did so. Bakugou watched you with a raised brow, noticing how as you touched each gem, you muttered something under your breath.

“What are you saying?” He asked.

“It’s the manual activation… since there’s no danger to make them activate on their own and help those who want to help.” You replied. “We talked about this before, right?”

Bakugou nodded. “Yeah… I just didn’t think you… knew what they were.”

“They were listed in the grimoire.” You informed him.

“Guess you being a nerd helps out at times…” Bakugou sighed.

You giggled, looking over towards Plagg. The black kwami looking upset. Apparently, the others had taken his cheese and he now was refusing to eat anything else. You looked back towards Bakugou, the male sighing.

“You’re fucking lucky my parents aren’t home… take whatever you want from the fridge…” He rolled his eyes and you dashed out his room and downstairs to get more food for the kwami feast.

Bakugou drummed his fingers along the desk near where the kwamis were. Something in his mind not sticking right. The peacock and the butterfly… they only would have been able to be activated as you had just shown him.

And since the activation phrases were old and hard to translate… it meant there were only a handful of people who could do so. So now… the ash blonde was at an impasse. He was on to something… but it might mean, he would reveal something about your loved ones he didn’t want to put on your consciousness.

He shook his head, seeing Tikki hovering. He sighed, poking her small body and making the kwami giggle. Tonight he’d enjoy time with his girlfriend and these strange God-like beings. And come tomorrow… he’d try to talk to you about this. And hope he wouldn’t break your heart again.

  
  
  



	35. Down Time and School Days

Ch.35- Down Time and School Days

“Purification…” RB spoke with a tone of exhaustion.

He watched as Kuro checked on the most recent victim. Recognizing the teen before him, but unable to recall the name. A common problem for him it appeared. After about three minutes, with his ring down to two minutes and Kuro’s down to one, the pair took off.

An alleyway in the small residential area near UA was the perfect place to transform back. Both laying their backs against a wall on opposite sides of the other. You catching Plagg as he overdramatically landed in your hands. Tikki simply floating down onto Bakugou’s shoulder.

“Put me out of my misery, (Name).” Plagg held up a tiny paw. “Seventeen akumas in the past two weeks is already killing me…”

You rolled your eyes, bringing the kwami back to life with a little cheese. The cat happily eating it as Bakugou handed Tikki a small fun-sized candy bar. The two kwamis happily eating as you and Bakugou started to talk.

“Poor Sonozaki… I hope she’ll find an opera house filling to take her soon…” You commented, Bakugou making note of the name.

“Did she seriously get so pissed off by a rejection she turned herself into some weird plant haired freak?” Bakugou huffed, making you shake your head.

“And this is why Kuro has a reputation for being the kind one.” You teased him lightly. 

“Remember that just because it doesn’t matter to you, it might matter the world to someone else.” Tikki added on, having finished stuffing her face.

“Don’t gang up on me, assholes…” Bakugou growled though you and Tikki knew he would not do anything aside from bark more empty threats and insults.

You laughed, putting Plagg into your bag, Bakugou doing the same to Tikki for his own. School started soon… so you both should start getting a move on, less you be late and suffer Aizawa’s wrath.

“I am tired though…” You yawned, rubbing at your eyes. “Monarch must have realized too that when you akumatize someone once… you can’t do it again.”

“Did we ever figure out if it was my Tikki’s purification or Nooroo’s generosity?” Bakugou asked, watching you ponder on the question a moment.

“Maybe both?” You shrugged. “Tikki’s purification makes it so you can’t be akumatized, but Nooroo makes it so you are happier and willing to fix what may have gotten you akumatized in the first place.”

“How so?” Bakugou seemed in disbelief of your theory.

“Kaminari is a bit more responsible, Jirou doesn’t let others get under her skin as much, Midoriya is more self-confident, Shinsou is pushing himself towards being better, and me… well, I’m not letting my social anxiety run my life nearly as much.” You counted off a few examples on your fingers.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, but lovingly ruffled your locks as he started to speed walk towards UA.

“Well look at that… guess all it took was a little fucking magic.”

“Don’t you start… seeing as you were just as vulnerable as me that day.”

He shrugged. “Worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

You huffed, crossing your arms. He was right… but at that moment, you had a feeling it wasn’t very fun for either one of you. Or Midoriya, who got the rough end of your rage. 

“I didn’t mean it.” Bakugou flicked your nose. “Maybe next time Nooroo and Tikki will get you to stop taking everything so fucking seriously.”

“I can’t help it! I was raised by scholars and am dealing with a supervillain.” You sighed. “God I just want to find out who Monarch is and stop him already…”

You walked past Bakugou who had for some reason started to slow down at your sentence. You looked back at him when he didn’t respond nor when his footsteps no longer sounded. 

Your own feet carried you back to him, and you touched his arm lightly. He looked at you, frowning somewhat. But the usual rough bite in his eyes and face just wasn’t there. You hummed lightly, telling him you were here for him if he wanted to share. If not, you’d not push his boundaries.

You were so unlike him in so many ways… and the more and more he got to know you and see who you were… he couldn’t help but feel as if the both of you ended up with your miraculous beyond a calling to help and do good in this world.

Maybe… it was also because you both were meant to be partners… in more than just the crime-fighting duo case.

And maybe that was why his feelings seemed to be developing beyond a crush, and he was left speechless so often now thanks to all the things you did around him, no matter how big or small, or for him or not.

There was a word for this he was sure… but either he was too stubborn or stupid to recall it and try to come to terms with it. Thus for now… he’d continue to bask in this feeling and get used to it. So one day, maybe he could finally tell you exactly how he felt. And hope you’d nod eagerly and tell him you were curious if he had felt the same as you had for a long while.

But that moment wasn’t right now. Instead… it seemed that another moment he had been waiting for, was to be right now.

“Monarch…” He turned his gaze away from you, looking at his feet. “We said we’d hear each other out on any leads… right?”

You gave him a confused look, but nodded. “Yes… of course.”

“Well… the stuff about the manual activation of the miraculous got me thinking…” Bakugou inhaled slowly, knowing it was better to just spit it out. “The only people who could know how to decode and read that ancient shit… is your family.”

You blinked a moment. “Excuse me…?”

Bakugou could hear the slight edge in your voice. “I’m not trying to start shit… but, can you say for sure who else would know that old age crap aside from them?”

You closed your eyes, squeezing your hands together. “I’m going to school.”

You marched off after that, not saying another word to him. Bakugou huffed, following after you, knowing you needed a little space at the current moment. You would come around to see he had a point, but being quick to get annoyed and angered person you were, much like your father as he had seen on the day you both first met… you needed some time to process.

The UA bell rang right as you both walked into class. A few classmates greeting you both as you both strolled in. You taking your seat behind Midoriya and in front of Yaoyorozu. Kaminari lightly punching Kirishima in his shoulder and motioning towards Bakugou. Kirishima shaking his head ‘no’, knowing no good would come of what Kaminari said he was gonna say to Bakugou when he came to class today.

But Kaminari always seemed to have a death wish…

“So… you spend extra time making out with (Last Name) this last week, or what?” The straw blonde snickered.

A moment later, the history textbook Bakugou had taken out was thrown at Kaminari, nearly hitting him square in the face.

You groaned, putting your head on the desk. Not only had your class found out you and Bakugou were dating this last week, but with Midoriya saying how it was confirmed Red Beetle and Kuro were as well… everyone was full of interest when it came to romance it seemed. And it didn’t help when you and Bakugou had come in last every day this week thanks to akumas.

So, it left many classmates to theorize what the both of you were doing when before you were dating… you both were more than punctual.

“Knock it off, everyone.” Tsuyu luckily seemed to have your back. “It’s none of our business.”

You sent the girl a smile, thanking her for respecting the boundaries. And seeing as now was a perfect time, since Aizawa was late as always and Iida had not taken over homeroom yet, you rose from your seat.

“I have a very important announcement!!” You rose your voice a little too much, it becoming obvious to all who could hear and see that you were a tad nervous.

“Is everything okay, (Last Name)-san?” Yaoyorozu looked a little concerned for you.

“Everything is just fine! Actually…” You spoke, reaching a hand into your bag.

You felt around, accidentally waking a sleeping Plagg. But now that he was awake, he pushed what you were looking for into your hands. You’d thank him later for the help, but currently, you had something important to pass out to everyone.

“I… I’m turning sixteen in two weeks, and I thought it might be fun to throw a party.” You spoke, shyly showing off the invitations you and your mother had spent all last night making.

“Ohhhh! A party!” Tooru was already excited. “I’ll come!”

“You don’t even know the date or time yet, Hagakure.” Ojirou chuckled lightly.

“Who cares! A party is a party! And a friend’s birthday party is the best kind of party!” Mina was just as excited.

“Yeah! I wanna come!” Kirishima smiled brightly.

Soon enough the classroom was engulfed in cries of excitement, as well as a few questions of what you’d want as a gift. You slowly started to pass out nineteen of the twenty invites you had made.

“Gifts?” You mumbled, pausing a moment. “I forgot that you do that… well, I think you all just coming to my first birthday party would be enough.”

A silence passed over, making you assume you had said something wrong. Was this not how you do it? Did you mess up already? Oh… you did, didn’t you? Now no one was going to come and-

“You’ve never had a birthday party before?!” Kaminari shouted.

You blinked, nodding a few times. “I haven’t exactly gone to school or made many friends until… well now. So yes, this is my first birthday party.”

“Didn’t your family ever do anything for you?” Uraraka looked close to tears.

“Yes and no…” You swung a finger around. “We celebrated, but it was mostly a nice dinner out and then my dad letting me decide the font size for his latest exhibit.”

“That sounds lame…” Sero commented, Jirou pulling on his ear in the next moment.

“Be nice!” She warned the dark-haired male.

You laughed. “It’s fine, Jirou-san. My dad is a bit of a dork, so things like font size that matter a lot to him, don’t matter as much to me. It’s still sweet though… seeing how he always made sure to give me credit for his findings despite how small my contribution was.”

A few happy expressions passed over. Your dad had started out as this villainous image in all their heads, but as you started to talk about him more and more, he seemed more human. Soon you were passing the rest of your invites out. 

Aizawa walked in as you were sitting back down, telling his students to quiet down. The tired teacher started to go over the schedule for the day as well as any upcoming announcements that his students would need to hear about.

Poor Aizawa was pretty much talking to twenty brick walls though, seeing as everyone was checking their calendars and making sure they could come to your party. You meanwhile were scribbling something down, and Bakugou… he was left stunned.

Were you really that pissed at him that you didn’t give him, your boyfriend, an invite to your own birthday party? He was brooding so much over it that Midoriya had to practically toss the invite you asked him to give Bakugou onto his desk.

The ash-blonde settling down as he saw the invite, as well as seeing the little message you had scribbled onto a sticky note and attached to the invite just for him. It looks like he was right… and time truly was his friend.

_ ‘I’ll hear you out.’ _


	36. Birthday Surprises and Unexpected Presents

Ch.36 - Birthday Surprises and Unexpected Presents

“Well, thank you for coming and helping out so early.” Your mother spoke as she was laying a table cloth down.

Bakugou shrugged. “I was kinda dragged into helping…”

“Don’t rat me out!” You spoke, sticking your tongue out at the ash blonde.

He rolled his eyes, continuing to put up streamers. You meanwhile started to help your mother set up the food table. Your party would start soon, and these last-minute setups was the final step.

The museum’s banquet hall was all set up, and you were giddy to get started. Mostly because you wanted to have a good night with your friends… but also because of the promise you had made to your boyfriend.

He had promised to not snoop into your family tonight, but starting tomorrow… you both would begin to look into them. While you still were not happy about it, you were rational… and thus, you knew Bakugou had a point.

Tonight would be fun… as tomorrow, was when the hard work would begin.

“Hun, I know it’s your party, but could you see what’s taking your dad so long?” Your mother asked as she was prepping the food table.

“Oh, of course.” You smiled, motioning to your boyfriend you’d be back in a minute and you could finish your conversation then.

He only sighed, seeing as he should try to find something to do less get dragged into a strange conversation with your mother about no doubt you and his relationship to you.

You were running through the back of the museum a moment later, arriving soon at your father’s office. As always, it looked like there was an array of artifacts scattered along his desk and the office space. From someone so knowledgeable, he sure was a clutter freak.

“Dad, you in here?” You asked, squeezing past two ancient Roman statues.

He appeared to not be, but obviously had been here moments ago from the fact that a hot cup of coffee was still resting on the one clean space in the room. You hummed to yourself, knowing it’d be quicker to wait for him to return then try to find where he ran off to.

Your eyes wandering around the space, looking over his most recent notes. Your father loved to surprise you with new exhibits, and thus you wanted to see what he may be considering for the next one. Eyes looking through the sheets, your (eye color) hues landed on something that didn’t sit right with you.

‘ _ Translation works claim gems are known as miraculous. Each holding a different power and God inside of it. _ ’ 

You pulled the sheet forward, reading more and more of his messy scribbles.

‘ _ Based on events proven, one can only assume these claims to be true. Recovering the ladybug and black cat miraculous must be a top priority. Any means necessary… _ ’

You stepped back, placing the paper down. There was no way… your father couldn’t be? You would have seen it… but the notes were right in front of you. Your original idea of him simply wanting his artifacts back, had turned sour when you realized your father knew exactly what the miraculous were… and what they were capable of.

The sounds of the door creaking open made you turn with a startled expression. Your father’s eyes widening when he saw you standing there. He froze in place, keeping his hands behind his back. The thud of the door is the only sound that came next.

“(Name)?” Your father gulped, looking towards the scattered papers on his deck, tone becoming a bit less confident as he spoke next. “W-what are you doing here?”

You knew you had been caught, but as of right now, he was still off guard about it. You might as well make your escape now while you could. Bakugou needed to know… and your time was decreasing.

“M-Mom wanted me to find and tell you to hurry out to help her.” You started to walk towards the door. “I should go… I have guests coming in the next few minutes…”

Your father watched as you dashed down the hallway, scurrying into his office himself to see if you had found and read what he feared you had. 

You turned a corner quickly, feeling panic set in. As a result, you failed to notice the sounds of someone walking to where you were running from. Your face colliding with someone and you falling flat onto your butt in the next moment.

“Whoa! Sorry there, birthday girl.” Your uncle chuckled, reaching a hand out towards you.

You took it, nervously looking behind your back. Dolion noticed and looked with you, seeming curious as to what had made you so nervous. Or well… nervous this time around.

“Everything okay?” Your uncle asked you, and you snapped back to look at him.

“J-just fine!” You lied, though your uncle could tell.

“You’ve always been a bad liar. And terribly nervous.” Your uncle hummed, then snapped his fingers. “It must be ‘cause all your friends are coming over right?”

You nodded. “Oh, you got me.”

It was a half-lie… and luckily one he believed.

“Well then.” Your uncle nodded. “I guess I can’t wait to give you your gift then.” 

He reached behind and into his pocket and took out a small circular box. He held it out to you and your eyes widened. 

“O-Oh…” You muttered, opening the gift in a hurry.

Inside was a necklace, with a small little charm attached to one end. A shiny stone that was no doubt your birthstone. Your uncle smiled widely, and you nodded towards him.

“Thank you, uncle.” You knew you had to wrap this up. “It’s lovely.”

You moved to shut the box, only to have your hand caught. Your uncle was still smiling, but now, it seemed like it was slowly changing into something more… disturbing.

“Try it on.” He spoke, using his other hand to reach out and grab your disguised miraculous. “I’ll hold onto this while you do.”

You pushed his hand off your wrist, but his grip on your miraculous was too harsh, and you didn’t want to risk breaking it. Your uncle’s smile falters, watching as you stared at him with confused but rebellious eyes.

“I like this necklace… I’d like to wear this one.” You breathed out.

“You always wear it.” Dolion hummed. “Don’t you want to impress your friends with the beautiful one I got you?”

Your eyes narrowed. Your heart sinking, but mind becoming angered as the truth was slowly starting to unravel.

“You’re always afraid of messing up… I’m just trying to help.” Your uncle chuckled. “I’ve always been your friend… and I’m trying to help. So… why not let me help you again. I don’t mind… whether it is as my old friend’s daughter, my student… or as Kuro.”

You inhaled sharply. Your uncles’ laughter echoing as he found delight in your shock. He wiped a fake tear away, looking at you once more as he continued. Grip getting that much together, and you having to physically hold Plagg back from hopping out of your little purse.

“What? Did you really think a little magic would stop me from realizing it?” He shook his head. “I’m an expert on dead languages and ancient sites… nothing stays hidden from me for long.”

His lips pulled into a flat line. “I knew something was up when you willingly got akumatized and Kuro didn’t show up. More when you seemed so hell-bent on attacking whoever the replacement you was. And while I wasn’t sure… you actually confirmed it for me during the little incident with the little girl.”

“What…?” You breathed out.

“I knew that Kuro and Red Beetle would be desperate to even the odds… and well, seeing so many other miraculous activated for the sake of a single-use… meant whoever did so, also knew how to translate the grimoire.

Now, my dear sweet (Name)... who else aside from me knows how to do that?”

Your eyes narrowed and you began to thrash about. Your uncle only holding you harshly and then snatching his gift back. You watched as suddenly he was painted in blues and purples. The necklace having a tiny little feather fly into it. In the next moment, an identical copy of you had appeared.

“How many I help you, master?” The faux-you spoke, Dolion motioning for her to go back to where the party would be.

“Make sure to not cause any suspicion.” Dolion laughed, looking towards you. “I want to hear from her directly who Red Beetle is and where I can find him…”

“I’d never tell you…” You spat.

Your uncle shook his head. “Now now, (Name)... we don’t have to be enemies.”

Your eyes widened and Dolion continued.

“I’ve always been closer to you than your father. I’d even say I am your father. So… why not join me? I can recreate this world in the way not only I… but you picture it.” He tempted you. “A father who is more present, no social anxiety, and most importantly… you and I could decide the rules. No more people destroying precious artifacts or records…”

You looked at him, the man seeing some temptation dancing in your hues. The other you listening for a moment, not yet having been ordered to go, as the real you was trying to be convinced. And thus, she might not be needed.

“What about you…” You spoke softly. “Why are you doing this?”

Dolion laughed. “Simple… your father takes credit for everything I do. Finding those artifacts mentions in articles… the love letter to your mother… he has always gotten the fame and attention. Meanwhile...I don’t have any. And I want to make sure he was never born…”

Your eyes widened. “Then how will I exist!?”

He chuckled. “Silly… I did say I’d be your father, didn’t I?’

You shook your head, fighting once more to break free. “You’re insane!”

“Those who wish to obtain power and change the world often are…” He chuckled, starting to drag you away. “Sentimonster… go about your orders.”

You tried to break free, considering screaming. But it was too risky. He had two powerful miraculous… and could hurt those you loved. You had to find a way out of this. If you could reach the amokitized object… then you could control your copy and get her to help free you, and get your power crazy uncle’s hands-off Plagg’s miraculous.

The kwami was as terrified as you. It was too risky for him to use his cataclysm here. He could hurt you, or he could get caught by Monarch. What both Plagg and you needed right now… was a stroke of good luck.

“The hell’s going on here?” Bakugou’s voice boomed.

In that moment of distraction, you latched onto your uncle. Not reaching to free yourself, but the amok. You managed to free it and looked towards your double.

“Get him off of me!” You shouted, the other you rushing forward to do just that and serve her new holder.

Dolion tried to rip your miraculous off you, but you were holding strong. The man instead letting go and then taking a few steps back. His little amok you protecting you and Bakugou ran up behind you, slowly starting to try to understand what was happening.

“I’m guessing you don’t have a secret twin?” The ash-blonde asked and you shook your head.

“Oh… so it looks like Red Beetle was closer than I thought.” Your uncle chuckled, seeming to be on point despite how he couldn’t be certain.

He snapped his fingers, the amok you stiffening. Suddenly she started screaming before she evaporated in front of the pair of you. Your uncle sighing, showing off two dazzling gems attached to his tweed jacket.

“Well, well… Red Beetle, Kuro… it’s finally nice to meet you both in person.” Your uncle spoke, a light enveloping him. “Now… I suppose it’s my turn to demand your miraculous.”

Bakugou and you looked at one another, seeing as the man before you now had confirmed it. Monarch was here, Monarch was ready for a fight.

And Monarch wasn’t going to let either of you get away unless he won, or you managed to take him down.

And thus far… the villain had proved he was crafty, quick-witted, and unpredictable.

This was going to be one hell of a fight. 

  
  
  
  



	37. Desperate Times and Desperate Measures

Ch.37 - Desperate Times and Desperate Measures

“I. Fucking. Told. You. So.” Bakugou growled, letting Tikki out of his jacket. “Tikki transform me!”

“You can gloat later!” Your emotions were swaying everywhere. “Plagg! Transform me!”

Monarch smirked. “My my… still needing to verbally tell your kwamis what you want? How… disappointing.”

He didn’t even wait for you both to finish transforming. And by the time the light had faded from both your transformations, Monarch had punched you both in the stomachs and sent you flying. A gust of wind adding onto his punch.

“Ow… so, his natural element is wind too, huh?” Kuro coughed, then felt something.

Red Beetle had noticed it as well. Monarch had sent the pair flying backward. You had crashed through the doors, and now… were in the banquet room. Lots of guests and a set of parents were watching with wide eyes.

“Get fucking down! Don’t be a hero!” Red Beetle shouted, only to suddenly notice something in the air flying.

A small akuma was coming directly towards Kuro. Monarch walking in a moment later, twirling his dark purple cane. A dark blue miraculous in his hands. The akuma coming near the cat, and Monarch smirked.

“I won’t take no for an answer this time, Kuro.” The villain chuckled. “Now… join me and I’ll reward you with another gift.”

The akuma suddenly stopped coming towards Kuro. The female smirking. It looks like Monarch hadn’t realized it yet… and thus, she was taking this moment.

“RB! Purify it!” Kuro shouted, using her fan to summon a gust of wind enough to make Monarch let go of the peacock miraculous.

The gem flew out of his grasp and Kuro skidded across the floor. She caught it right as RB had captured the akuma. The pair moving back towards one another and looking towards their foe.

“Nice try… but akumas don’t work after the first time.” Kuro smirked, showing off her fancy new jewel. “But thanks for this. It was so thoughtful of you.”

Monarch’s eyes dropped. “I tried to work with you… remember that when you’re begging for mercy.”

“How… between Kuro and I… none of your fucking powers will work!” RB shouted back.

Monarch sighed, and then slowly covered his mouth. A string of chuckles coming from his mouth muffled slightly.

“Well, well… who said I need some special power to make two teenagers fall.” Monarch twirled his cane. “Now… come. Let’s end this battle and allow me to change this world after so much delay!”

Kuro looked towards RB, and he towards her. They nodded to one another. Kuro holding back as RB started running forward. She sent a gust of wind his way, allowing the male to gain a speed boost.

RB’s fist colliding with the ground. Monarch smirked, seeing as the hero was too slow to even land a direct hit. Now it was his turn to show this youngling how it was done.

As RB was put on the defensive, Kuro was rushing towards where the guests were. RB could handle a fight for a few minutes… in the time before he needed backup, she needed to get all her friends and parents out of here.

“You all need to go! It’s going to get dangerous!” Kuro tried to warn, but suddenly her arm was grabbed.

She met the eyes of her father, who seemed to be quite angry at not only the sight of those who stole his gems but that they were running and fighting in his galleries. 

“And why should we listen to thieves…” He spoke harshly.

Kuro’s mouth opening, but no words coming out. Her father was stubborn… there was no way she could reason with him.

“Hey!” Todoroki suddenly rushed forward, freeing Kuro’s wrist. “She’s trying to help… I wouldn’t be complaining.”

“Especially after all the terrible things you’ve done to her and RB’s name!” Kaminari joined in.

“Listen to the girl! She knows this isn’t a place to stand by and watch!” Jirou joined in.

Kuro blinked slowly, a small smile coming onto her face as she watched her friends defend her. It meant a lot, and she knew at this moment how truly great they were.

But this still wasn’t the place for them to watch. Kuro hushed everyone, pointing towards the closest exit. She looked back at her father.

“Once this is over and we take back Monarch’s gem… the one he stole in the first place, RB and I will return ours.” Kuro shot her father a look. “We’d appreciate your cooperation.

Her father blinked, something in that gaze familiar. He couldn’t place it. But now seeing as that ash-blonde boy was slowly losing the hand to hand fight against the man dressed as some typical evil doer…. He might as well listen.

Kuro’s father turned, starting to walk away. Leading everyone out as fast as he could among the chaos. Kuro sighing and looking back towards everyone. They all looked back at her, nothing but confidence in one of their heroes showing.

“We’ve got this… go help, Red Beetle!” Midoriya nodded to the catgirl.

“Thank you… thank you all.” Kuro spoke, rushing back to RB who was not faring well. “Now stay safe! Please!”

She quickly blew Monarch back, looking towards RB. He nodded at her, knowing it was her way of saying she was not wanting to play games. Both she and he wanted to end this with Monarch and quick.

As RB began to get ready to attack, Kuro rushed forward, knowing he’d need some time for his attack. And she’d give it to him.

“Time to fucking end this…” Red Beetle scowled, grabbing one of his grenades.

“Be careful!” Kuro told him, trying to blow Monarch away, but the villain instead managed to send her flying with a wind attack of his own.

Kuro skidded across the floor, nearly crashing into the barricaded, but watching party guests. She was up and dashing back before anyone could ask if she was okay. Watching as RB used his special power, and Monarch noticed how he was standing particularly still.

“Lucky charm!” RB yelled, antsy and wishing for his power to hurry up so he could attack and defend himself again.

“I won’t give you a chance to use that luck!” Monarch shouted, grabbing his cane.

He dashed forward, running towards Red Beetle who was still waiting for the item to appear. If there was ever an opening for Monarch to take, it would be now. Thus, he was certainly taking it.

With a simple click, the lower part of his cane slid off. The dark purple color revealing itself to have been a scabbard. And now, a deadly sharp sword was aiming to strike RB. Kuro’s eyes widened, seeing how RB was still wide open.

“Why aren’t you moving, you dumb bug!” She screamed, seeing as RB finally caught the red and black towel he had been given.

Now with his lucky charm, Red Beetle could fight back. All he needed to do was dodge this next attack.

All he had to do was-

A strange noise emitted, and the sounds of something tearing.

He was hit, but it was not in the way he imagined he would have been hit. Rather than a sudden brute force, he felt something warm and liquid suddenly cover parts of his body. The male’s eyes blinking open again, looking down towards his suit. 

It was red and black as usual… but some reds looked darker and seemed sticky. And parts of the black dots on him… were now red. His head slowly lifting up to glance and see what exactly had happened, mind refusing to conclude the obvious.

But he was forced to face reality once more when he saw what was before him. Kuro’s body shaking slightly, her form tense. Monarch looking down at her with shocked eyes, looking to be just as shocked. 

“Sorry…” Kuro breathed, hands gripping the sword from her once-trusted faux-relative.

She seemed to have originally been trying to stop it from reaching her partner, but somewhere along the way, while she had succeeded in grabbing the weapon, half of it had entered her form. 

The ends of the metal a centimeter from reaching Red Beetle, the tip of the once polished metal now dyed a crimson that only blood could bring out. Slowly, Kuro pushed the weapon out, coughing and groaning violently as she removed it. Monarch’s grip on the weapon losing itself, and once Kuro had pushed the weapon out of her chest, the metal hit the ground with a resounding thud.

The people behind looked on in shock. There was no way… the heroes were invincible, right? They couldn’t be taken down by… by such a mortal thing. But, it seemed that even heroes have the heels of Achille’s when it came to their immense strength. Only in this case… it was another miraculous that could cause such damage to another.

“Idiot…” Red Beetle whispered out, voice gruff and harsh. “Why do you never let me take the blow myself…”

Kuro attempted to laugh, but her energy had failed her. Her form collapsed a moment later. Red Beetle dropping his lucky charm, the towel hitting the ground instead of your body. He moved to have his partner face him. The girl smiling towards him despite the pain.

“I’m stubborn…” Kuro breathed out slowly, eyes dropping.

“No no… come on.” RB tried, gently slapping her face. “You’ve gotta stay awake right now. You know the rules… only you can break stuff. I’m supposed to fix shit.”

Kuro shook her head. “Guess… you’ll need to find someone to take my place for this one.”

Slowly she closed her eyes. RB shaking his head back and forth more and more. Kuro’s form glowing before both the human and kwami were separated. Plagg appearing and looking towards his holder with wide eyes. 

This had only happened once before. When his last holder had tried to defeat the last guardian. And after his last holder… had done away with Tikki’s last holder.

A human and kwami being separated from miraculous use by force… was only when the human…

The kwami couldn’t bring himself to think it, instead rushing toward and burying himself onto your chest, ignoring how your party attire was now becoming stained red as well. Plagg so into his denial of what was happening, that he didn’t notice when Monarch took a step back.

The man shaking his head back and forth. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was only aiming to disarm the boy from whatever magical item that could turn the tide. But you were a rash and reckless fool… like your father. Now… it was detrimental that he got miraculous. To reserve this… and fix everything that he knew needed to be fixed.

Red Beetle’s time limit was up before any of the three males noticed. The red light filling the room quickly before anyone knew. Tikki was here suddenly, widening her eyes when she saw what was happening. Her holder, holding you, looking at a loss and close to tears.

Behind them all, the classmates who had come for a party, witnessing your end. And in front of you all, the uncle who you had no doubt trusted from a childhood age until now. Tikki wanted to do something, but all she could do was float slowly to the floor. She was tired, hungry, and terrified of a repeat of the past.

Bakugou shook his head, gripping your hand tightly, his mind racing. Your grip in his was getting weaker. He looked down at you again, seeing as your eyes were slowly closing again, but this time, it seemed your fire was dimming inside of them.

“Take care… of Plagg for me.” You whispered quietly to him. “He’ll… act out if he doesn’t get enough camembe…”

The ash blonde’s eyes widened, watching as your head rolled back. No chance to finish your sentence. Nor did you respond as he desperately shook you and painfully cried your name.


	38. Old Feelings and Unmatched Emotions

Ch.38 - Old Feelings and Unmatched Emotions

He paced back and forth out in the waiting room. The call he had gotten from his old roommate had sounded panicked, but given the circumstance, anything other then panic would not have been proper. 

Dolion breathed out softly, trying to calm himself. Today wasn’t the day to get jealous, or upset. Today was the day to celebrate the accomplishment the two had made. He’d smile, laugh, and talk praise. He had to. 

Years of doing this had taught him how to look and act happy and supportive. Every laugh covering the fact that his own life was nothing but a mess because of the other man in question. Every piece of work, every letter of love… taken and assumed to be someone else’s.

It was enough to drive a man mad-

“Dolion.” His old roommate called out, stalking through the hallways with a gleeful smile on his face. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Come!”

Dolion followed, not saying a word. His friend looked happy, he looked ecstatic. As he should. Dolion making notes on how to smile, how to laugh, and how to speak. He would base his own reactions on those of others. Learn what they were looking for and then give them what they were looking for.

Language was a tricky thing, but when one knew how to speak it with a silver tongue… you can make anyone believe anything.

“Oh, Dolion.” Her voice was strained. “Welcome… thanks for coming.”

Dolion paused a moment, looking at the women before him. Resting in a bed, looking exhausted and holding a small bundle of pink. The sounds of cooing heard. Dolion paced closer, looking at the small being who had come into this world not too long ago.

“What’s her name?” He asked, looking towards the new parents.

The pair looked at each other, laughing slightly. “We’re… still, workshopping that.”

Dolion paused a moment. There was always a name he was fond of for a baby girl, and this small one looked to be the perfect candidate to receive it. She was as pretty as her mother, and no doubt would be a force to be reckoned with.

“(Name).” Dolion spoke, nodding to himself. “Call her, (Name).”

His true feelings on this had accidentally slipped by, and the baby’s father looked up with a raised brow. 

“You seem pretty certain on that name?” The father spoke, slight tease in his voice. “You must like the name, huh old friend?”

Dolion shrugged, covering his tone again. He had almost revealed how angry he was about this. It should be him with the baby. Him with the wife. Him with the fame. Him with the museum. Him with the success.

“What can I say…” Dolion laughed. “I always thought if I had a daughter… I’d name her that.”

The two parents looked at one another and then nodded to one another. Dolion raising a brow as the mother spoke.

“Well, Dolion… we hope you’ll be an uncle to our daughter.” She smiled gently. “I’m sure little (Name) would love that.”

Dolion couldn’t help but smile, but not for the same reasons the parents were.

~~~~~

Bakugou huffed, looking out towards his girlfriend who was smiling gently as she worked on her homework. When she had invited him over to do homework together, he had assumed it would be at her home.

Instead, he, the two kwamis and her were all stuffed into the small closet she called an office that this museum. He had finished his a few minutes ago, and now was looking at the inactive miraculous that was supposed to have been put back after last night’s group efforts and getting that white-haired little girl back to normal.

She had hidden them in plain sight. Mixing the jewels into a glass vase and then putting an artificial flower in. Thus, it looked like nothing more than an aesthetic flower vase.

“(Name)...?” The door to her small space opened, a man pausing when he saw what was happening. “Oh… you have a friend stuffed in here with you?”

“We’re studying, uncle.” You responded. “Have a test in another week or so.”

“I’ll leave you be then, just wanted to see if you wanted to dust the dinosaur bones with me or not?” He spoke, seeing as your eyes lit up at the mention.

“I’ll come!” You spoke, shuffling out.

Bakugou followed behind you, shocked. Did you forget he was here?

“Hey!” He called out, catching your shoulder. “I thought we were gonna get dinner!”

You nodded. “Gimme another thirty minutes and we will!”

You dashed off after your uncle, Bakugou watching. He shook his head, not sure how he was feeling. Part of him jealous you had picked a bunch of dusty bones over him, but at least the closet wasn’t as crowded now.

He huffed back in, Tikki and Plagg coming out of their hiding spots. Tikki telling bakugou it was fine and to relax for thirty minutes. But Plagg seemed to be feeling similar to Bakugou.

“That guy… always seems to know exactly what to say when he wants (Name) to hang out with him.” Plagg crossed his arms. “Drives me nuts when we’re supposed to go get cheese!”

“She just wants to spend time with her uncle, Plagg.” Tikki shook her head. “And besides, it’s important to (Name), since she never knows how long he’ll stay around. We should all be supportive and open about this…”

Bakugou merely clicked his tongue, something in his head not liking the way Dolion had looked at him. And how he had spoken to you right after he noticed the male sitting there with you.

Either way… soon enough, Bakugou would break the news to you that he was suspicious of your father and uncle. But right now, he’d let you have your time.

So long as he got his, as the male also… wanted to spend as much time with you as possible.

~~~~~

He held onto you tightly, ear pressed against your chest, trying to listen to something or anything that would tell him this wasn’t happening. But between his hard breathing and the way his mind was blasting his thoughts on full volume, the male couldn’t feel or hear a single breath entering and leaving your frame.

The black cat kwami was just as bad, desperately touching your face, trying to get your eyes to open again. Why did this always have to happen to him? He may be the God of destruction, but it didn’t mean he himself had to destroy. So why… why couldn’t protect those most precious to a kwami? The holder… was someone a kwami couldn’t and shouldn’t fail.

So… why did he have a streak of breaking this?

“Plagg… Bakugou…” Tikki tried to speak, her voice soft, but not lacking in her own shock and worry. “Please… snap out of it.”

Neither male moved, leading Tikki to watch as Monarch continued to step closer. The red kwami dropping the candy she had gotten and with new energy flew towards Bakugou and lifted his face up to see Monarch. There was still a threat here, and Tikki couldn’t stand the idea of losing another holder today.

Bakugou’s eyes widened as he saw Monarch’s eyes slowly move from your still and cold frame toward the boy who was now covered in bits of your blood. His hand extending slowly and then curling his fingers inwardly and outwardly a few times.

“Now… it seems dire that I get your miraculous to fix this all, right, Red Beetle?” Monarch spoke with a soft and kind tone.

He was speaking to Bakugou like a friend, like someone he just wanted to help and support. But… Bakugou knew this wasn’t the case. He still couldn’t say for sure, but with how manipulative Monarch was, he couldn’t shale the thought of him trying to get you killed purposefully so the ash-blonde would hand over his miraculous and yours in a bid to save you.

Bakugou inhaled slowly, hands gripping yours tightly, the feeling of the small gem you had forced towards him in your last few moments making him ignite. This man before him was one you had grown up trusting, one you had spoken so highly of. One… you thought of as a friend who was always looking out for your best interests.

Bakugou inhaled slowly, biting his lip harshly. If he was drawing blood at this moment he didn’t know. But what he did know was that his anguish was transforming itself into something else, something much more dangerous than the grief that came after a loss.

“She fucking trusted you…” He breathed out, grip tightening onto the black gem. “She fucking thought of you as family!”

Monarch sighed. “We are family…. And I’ll make sure it stays that way when I change this world.”

“You’re changing her if you do that…” Bakugou seethed. 

“It’s not like you’ll notice… no one will.” Monarch took another step forward, no longer wanting to waste time. “Now give it here. Both of them.”

Bakugou shook his head, finally putting you down onto the ground. No one else was around, but he didn’t know for sure if that meant no one else had watched your demise. One thing was for certain though, you had asked him to watch over Plagg as your last wish.

And thus, uncle or not… Bakugou was not going to just hand Plagg or Tikki over because this villain was the only hope left to save you and bring you back. The grimoire had spoken of life for a life… so, it meant whatever Monarch changed, would affect someone else when it was over.

Monarch would not be getting his hands on these precious jewels. The only one who would be allowed to hold such power now… would be him.

Bakugou opening his palm slowly, exhaling when he saw that the gem had turned into a ring. Plagg’s eyes widening when he saw his gem had already taken on a new holder. This kid… had some unbelievable drive to do good and keep balance in this world if he was able to activate both miraculous at once through self vituous desires. 

“Bakugou…” Tikki spoke, watching as her holder slipped on the other ring onto his other hand. “Don’t do it… it’ll be too much!”

Bakugou ignored her, slowly rising to his feet. He swayed from side to side a little bit. Even having the inactive forms of the cat and ladybug on his hands, he could feel the overwhelming surge of power coursing through him. It was as if the power was draining from the mythical jewels and taking root inside of him.

It left a nasty pit in this stomach, but one he also couldn’t help but begin to feel energized from. It was addicting, like the first sip of coffee ever. It was bitter and not delightful at all, but as the seconds passed afterward, he couldn’t help but want to take multiple sips and see what other flavors he could make from the root taste.

Bakugou heaved out a long and painful breath, no longer sure if it was because of his emotions or that his body was already aching. Maybe both… maybe neither because he was feeling a strange numbing in his body. His mind. His emotions. His everything.

Nothing mattered anymore in this world… because he could do whatever he wanted to it! He could make this world into anything he wanted it to be. And he could be anyone he wanted to be. He could even be the ruler, the strongest and unquestionable God.

There were voices of the two tiny creatures trying to reason with him, but his eardrums were echoing. The whispers of power and praise were getting louder, and as his eyes fell onto your cold form laying just below his feet, he knew what had to be done.

Gripping rings onto his hands, he looked up towards Monarch. The male was taking a few steps back, shaking his head. It seemed this turn of events were ones he didn’t consider in that educated and highly proud mind of his. 

With a smirk, a light chuckle, and one final exhale… Bakugou mutters the names of the two kwamis before him. And then, the room was enveloped in light.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	39. Ultimate Power and Changing Destinies

Ch.39 - Ultimate Power and Changing Destinies

His body was no longer what it had been moments before. Even glancing down at this hand, he could see that what used to be skin, blood, and bones was now a swirling mass of energy fighting one another. 

Various colors mixing and dividing inside of him, each holding some sort of power relating to the creation or destruction of whatever he saw fit. Bakugou inhaled slowly, looking around himself.

Everyone had left… everyone aside from him, the fallen Kuro, and the villain who had done this to her. He gritted his teeth, starting to walk forward. The colors of the tiled flooring changing as he did so. From white to black, his new power being used without him even knowing it.

Monarch looked to be a mix between terrified and intrigued. On one hand, he was no doubt about to get killed or worse but on the other hand… this was what true ultimate power of the miraculous looked like… and he couldn’t help but want to experience it.

“I make threats like this all the fucking time… but I really do mean it when I say I’m going to kill you…” Bakugou heaved, looking towards the man.

“Merely kill me?” Monarch laughed. “Why not use my life energy and give it to (Name)? You are not thinking outside the box, Red Beetle!”

Bakugou grit his teeth. This guy was more than off his rocker. He didn’t care about you, his niece. He didn’t care about dying… he only cared about something too convoluted for Bakugou to even want or try to understand.

Therefore… Bakugou had come to the conclusion that he could do whatever he wished to this poor excuse of a human being. Thoughts of pain and torture running through his head over and over again.

Kill him over and over again, letting him remember every bit. Send him back to the big bang. He really could do anything… and he also could do anything he wished for this world. He was… a God now, wasn’t he?

And who dared say no to what a God wanted!? No one!

“Time to fucking start this… you messed up fucker.” Bakugou lurched forward, seeing Monarch look towards him in fear.

Reality looked to be setting in for what was to come. And Bakugou couldn’t help but get a bit eager. This was for you. This was avenging you. And when all was finally said and done, he’d be able to once more live freely with you and in a world, he knew would truly satisfy him and you… no matter the consequences.

Something snagged his leg, making the male stop his approach. His eyes slowly falling down to see what or who was trying to stop him from doing was clearly needed to be done. His multicolored hues widening as he saw that there was a pale hand gripping his ankle as if life depended on it.

And it might have.

“Stop…” You breathed out. “Please… Katsu…”

Your head fell back down onto the flooring. Grip loosening and body once more losing its presence in the living world. Bakugou’s own body going stiff as he came to realize you had pushed the possible last bit of life inside of you to try and reach him.

This overwhelming power that had clearly started to consume and decay him, was so heartbreaking to you that even if it meant you losing your own fight against these injuries… you needed to save him from himself and the power of creation and destruction combined.

Slowly he inhaled, letting one light release from his body. A small black kwami flying out and looking around. Plagg’s eyes falling onto how he was separated from the human and now the human was once more only combined with Tikki.

“Idiot… worry about yourself.” Red Beetle spoke, gently making sure you were still alive.

A small pulse could still be felt on your wrist, meaning that while you were still alive right now, he needed to wrap up this entire thing to make sure it stayed that way. He couldn’t use that power to do what he wanted… he needed to rely on himself and his own strengths to do so.

You had your faith in him doing this himself, and he was Bakugou Katsuki. If he didn’t see himself as the greatest person to ever grace this Earth… then he was only letting himself and everyone else around him down.

“Plagg.” Red Beetle spoke, looking towards the black kwami who was still worried. “You can use your cataclysm… right?”

Plagg’s eyes widened but he nodded a little. “Yes… but I can’t control it.”

“Why the hell do you think I’m here then, you floating glutton?” Red Beetle clicked his tongue.

Plagg gave the hero a warning look but knew what he was saying. Red Beetle pretty much confirmed to him that Plagg could go all out himself and the male would fix it all in the end. The power of creation was truly a wonderful thing for the kwami of destruction.

“Guess we’re partnering up again…” Plagg sighed, shaking his head. “But always for her sake right?”

Red Beetle smirked. “Can the mushy shit until later… we got an asshole to teach a lesson to, right?”

Plagg nodded, both looking out towards Monarch who had been unusually quiet. But his observation skills were no such strange occurrence. The villain only shaking his head.

“You give up the ultimate power to change whatever you wish… and decide to protect this broken and cruel world?” Monarch’s gaze lowered. “You are much more deluded then I thought, pathetic hero.”

Bakugou shook his head. “You’re fucking thinking is shit. And I’m done listening to it…”

Monarch chuckled a bit, shaking his head. “Well… I suppose this is our final match then.”

He took a step forward, sliding out his blood-stained sword once more. The smirk on his face only making Bakugou’s anger turn much more violent. Monarch knowing from observations how this boy was not in total control of himself or his emotions.

He’d fight him as best as he could… and then when the moment came, he’d deliver the final blow and akumatize him. The anger inside his chest… was just waiting for a chance to get control.

Monarch rushed forward in the next moment, aiming for Red Beetle’s chest. Red beetle countering by jumping away. The ash-blonde using a nearby wall to jump onto and then propel himself off of.

Red Beetle managed to land a kick to Monarch’s chest, sending him flying back. But he didn’t get away unscathed. Red Beetle now brandishing a rather nasty cut along his arm from where Monarch had struck him.

Monarch only chuckled, seeing RB look at him curiously. The villain motioning for the male to look behind him. As RB turned, he saw a single flap of a wing until suddenly the ring on his hand turned black.

“Now… allow me to help you save the girl.” Monarch spoke softly. “I can make it so nothing ruins or risks your relationship again. All I require are… the two miraculous in your possession.”

Red Beetle violently shook his head. Plagg watching from where he had been waiting to strike. The kwami in shock. There was no way this was happening! There was too much at stake! This kid couldn’t fall victim now of all times!

“No…. you… DON’T!” Red Beetle spoke, forcing himself to walk forward. “I’m not… going to be… manipulated by you!”

Monarch, so in shock that Bakugou had neither denied or accepted the akuma was in his a state of shock. Only coming back to as Bakugou stood before him, looking to be in quite a bad state from what was going on inside his head.

Monarch smirked, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Come now… let me help.”

Red Beetle stilled, looking towards Monarch with a calm expression. His red hues looking serene. A state of pure peace on his face as the akuma started to take more and more of a hold on him.

“Fine… do it now.” He spoke calmly.

Monarch hummed, ready to snap his fingers and transform the male, but only to suddenly feel something weigh down his extended arm. A small black creature with an extended paw, smirking.

Monarch tried to grab Plagg, but it was too late. The kwami touched Monarch’s miraculous with his paw, shattering the object on impact. In that instance, not only was Red Beetle freed from the akuma, but Monarch was now once more Dolion.

However, as Plagg said… the use of his cataclysm was too much. And soon, the entire room was shaking with cracks, and an earthquake began to occur. Lucky for them all, RB was on it and was tossing his purification grenade to fix it all.

A moment later… all was back to normal. All… was done, right? And the small purple gem in his hands… confirmed it right?

~~~~~

An ambulance was ready as soon as Dolion had been struck to the ground with that burst of destructive energy. Bakugou roughly gripping the peacock miraculous, his legs wobbly. He wasn’t sure if his lack of strength at this moment was because of his fatigue from battle, from trying to do something against nature, or that he had actually managed to win this fight.

Either way, he collapsed onto his knees. Breathing heavily and looking out towards the rest of the room. Tikki and Plagg were collapsed next to him, both looking just as tired as he was. The sounds of footsteps approaching made Bakugou slowly turn his head to look and see what was happening now.

Paramedics were rushing in, looking to be directed by Todoroki and Midoriya. And after them… armed police officers were coming in behind (Name)’s father. Bakugou prepared for what would surely be his arrest as your father knew who he was… but instead, they all made their way towards Dolion.

Your father merely looking towards him, sending a slow nod before he continued telling the police this entire attack had been because of Dolion. The only ones approaching Bakugou were his own classmates. 

Too tired to speak, he didn’t even fight the pair of males off as they helped him back onto his feet and supported him towards the exit and where more medical professionals were waiting.

“I should have known earlier…” Todoroki breathed. “Who else would swear so vulgarly as a superhero.”

Bakugou huffed. “You fucks better not tell anyone…”

Midoriya sighed. “Just don’t go nearly killing yourself again, Kacchan.”

The world outside the museum was buzzing. His classmates all keeping their distance, but it seemed some kind of mutual understanding and agreement had been made. Today would stay between all of them. And as of right now, with how things were… questions could come later.

Bakugou was placed onto a bench near the ambulance. A medical professional coming over to look at him. His ears listening in on what was being said about you, who was resting on a gurney inside the ambulance.

“We have a pulse still.” The head medic spoke. “We need to rush back to the hospital though!”

The doors to the ambulance started to close, but suddenly his own medic called out. The staff stopping as the man grabbed Bakugou and shoved him into the back of the ambulance as well.

“Take this kid as well. His wounds are not life-threatening, but he’ll need some medical attention as well.” 

Bakugou found himself sitting in a corner on the vehicle, staying out of the way of the medical professionals. His eyes locking onto his classmates once more, all of them wishing him luck and you good health.

Soon enough though, the ambulance was moving and he was on his way to get healed. You were on your way to hopefully have your life saved. Bakugou closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall, eyes dropping closed.

It was over right? He could finally rest now, right?

He’d be back with you again soon… right?


	40. A Pleasant Ending and Melancholy Goodbyes (Finale)

Ch.40 - A Pleasant Ending and Melancholy Goodbyes (Finale)

Waiting was the worst part. The time in hospitals always seeming to take much longer than time in other places. Thus far, Bakugou had only gone between the lobby, vending machines in the hallway, the cafeteria, and your room for the near twelve hours he had been here.

After a six-hour surgery to close up the wound that had missed your heart by a mere centimeter, the doctors seemed confident in you not only waking up soon but making a full recovery in given time.

And thus, Bakugou was left sitting around and waiting. The kwamis in his bag making conversation among themselves, but for the most part, left the boy to himself to continue to think things over and think of what to say when you awoke.

It had no doubt been a scary time yesterday. From Monarch to him combining the pair of original miraculous… Bakugou had a feeling that this would be a birthday you’d never forget. Especially since you had nearly died as well.

Taking his black canned coffee from the machine, Bakugou paced back towards the door. He sighed heavily, seeing that the doctor and his nurses were still running there check in on you. So he couldn’t go back into the room yet and wait.

He downed the can of coffee quickly, inhaling the energy-filled drink. He wouldn’t be sleeping tonight, so he was on his third can. You were going to wake up soon, and he wanted to be there when you did.

There would be questions and fear. Thus, he was here to provide answers and relief. Whether it was for him or you though, he’d have to see when the time came. Bakugou found himself leaning against the wall outside your room, half-listening in on all the talk that was too medical for him to understand.

The other half of his mind focusing on what would come next. Monarch was gone, his and your identities had been found out by a good number of your classmates, and well… there was still the regular high school things to be done, such as homework and studies.

He’d know soon, but he wanted to wait for you. This entire thing had been about a partnership between the pair of you, after all, thus he wanted to end this once and for all with his partner awake and smiling at him.

More so… he wanted her to wake up and give him that sweet but utterly goofy grin of hers so his heart would relax, and thus let him know it was finally safe for him to sleep himself. When he could see that she was fine and would be fine… he would try to be fine himself.

Until then, he’d get by and wait for her to be able to tease him with that sparkle in her eyes and then bore him with some random fact about old ass history and some dusty artifact.

He turned his head when he saw the nurses all starting to get out and leave. The doctor pausing to look at him as she exited. The older woman motioning towards the room. Bakugou’s attention on her directly.

“You’re good to go in and sit again.” The doctor smiled. “Plus… I think she’d like some company.”

The doctor watched as the ash-blonde boy took off into the room before she could even truly confirm that the patient was up and about. The doctor merely shook her head, carrying off to see her next patient, knowing all would be fine with this one and her dedicated visitor.

As she left, Bakugou had opened the bedside curtain, looking in to see if the doctor had really been telling him the truth. His eyes widening when he saw the museum girl sitting up as much as she could in her bed and looking at the bedside menu.

Your eyes blinking from the menu to the boy before you. You looked a bit startled to see him so suddenly, but your face turned into a soft happiness in the next moment.

“Hey. Did I keep you… waiting for long?” You spoke, needing to take a breath halfway between, but still sounded alive and almost well.

Bakugou didn’t say anything, only marching towards you. He looked at you from above for a moment, you blinking in worry that something was wrong. In the next moment though, he was suddenly throwingcaution to the wind and embraced you as tightly as he could.

You coughed suddenly, body not happy with the pressure, but you couldn’t help but feel so happy with it as well. Your hand holding him close, hearing the sounds of a zipper coming undone.

And then, two small beings had joined in on the hug. Each pressing into your chest and hugging you as tightly as they could.

You merely chuckled, feeling slight tears escape your eyes as you hugged them all back. Delighted that you were awake and that they were here. And that everything… was going to be fine.

Bakugou managed to get himself under control again not too long after the embrace. Tikki and Plagg back to being hidden in his bag, but still talkative and part of the conversation, a fake phone call displayed to get people to think something else when the pair of kwamis spoke.

You were glad to hear that he managed to snap himself back after his little power trip and that your uncle was being taken into what you assumed to be a psych ward, seeing as Bakugou’s choice of words was “Looney Hotel”.

He stayed for a long time: through dinner, medications, parents visiting and an explanation to your father, and basic company. By the time the head nurse came in to tell him visiting hours were over, she knew she couldn’t.

The boy had finally fallen asleep on a chair next to your bed, his hand attached to yours. Both of you sweetly sleeping near one another, making no one want to disturb either of you. Just this one the nursing staff would make an exception. The two kwamis grateful for that, seeing as both their holders needed rest more than anything else after everything that had happened… and the final event that would come soon.

~~~~~

“Be careful.” Your father urged you, seeing you nod.

“Don’t worry. No more midnight roof jumping for me, I’ve learned my lesson.” You nodded towards your parents. “As for you both… I’ll see you in six months. Have a good expedition in the American southwest.”

Your mother nodded, knowing their daughter would be fine. It had been a good month of healing and planning. You had wanted to stay and go to school, and thus, your parents for the first time in sixteen years… were going on an expedition without you.

“Call if you need anything…” Your father spoke. “But...if disaster strikes again, I’m sure… you’ll stop it again.”

He paused a moment. “Just no sacrificing yourself this time young lady!”

“She knows… you’ve lectured her enough!” Your mother dragged your father out. “Oh. And if Katsuki comes over, make sure he makes himself at home.”

“I will! Bye!” You called out, watching as your parents left.

The black kwami didn’t even mutter a goodbye, having been rather off-put by your parents and their constant questions and poking and prodding for the past month. At the current, he was stuffing his face with the mountain of cheese they had bought him.

“Come on, Plagg.” You spoke, grabbing your own jacket. “We have somewhere to be.”

The black kwami nodded, pushing the last few slices in his mouth before rushing off towards you. You laughed lightly, letting Plagg into your bag before you were headed off yourself.

It took a good hour by train, but soon you were at the pier once more. The ash-blonde boy waiting for you, looking irritated. But by now, you were long used to it. You dashed over, heaving heavily as you stopped before him.

“Moron… don’t push yourself.” He clicked his tongue.

“S-Sorry, Bakugou…” You breathed out, seeing him get even more irritated.

“How many times do I need to fucking tell you! It’s Katsuki!” He roared, and you nodded.

“Yes! Sorry, Katsuki!” You spoke, then moved towards the storage area. 

Bakugou grew silent, following after you. Neither of you want to do this… but it was the kwamis last wish. And thus… you both had decided to treat this like a bandaid… and just rip it off to get the pain over with soon and then hopefully move on.

As promised, your father had left everything out. He was really sucking his pride down by doing this and not asking a million questions. You’d have to find some way to thank him later, but was time to focus on the kwamis.

Bakugou hung back as Tikki and Plagg looked over your shoulders as you started to go through the inventory.

“It looks like a fancy box!” Plagg spoke.

“Is this it?” You asked, pulling out what looked like a box.

“Yes! The miracle box!” Tikki called, flying back towards Bakugou and motioning for him to come forward.

“Alright… let’s put you all back in your resting places.” Bakugou breathed out, taking the miraculous you and he had been keeping watch over and started to put them in their correct places in this box.

“What is this box anyway?” You asked, putting the peacock and butterfly back.

“It’s how we kwamis can be inactive in your world, but still talk and keep each other company in a small vacuum dimension.” Tikki explained, showing Bakugou where the horse miraculous went.

“So… you all won’t be lonely then.” You breathed out sadly.

Plagg paused, looking towards you. You looked at him and then embraced the kwami. He hugged you back, knowing this was hard for him too.

“I’m gonna miss you so much, Plagg.” You breathed.

“I’m gonna miss you and your cheese, kid.” Plagg spoke softly.

Tikki couldn’t contain herself either, looking towards Bakugou with teary eyes. Bakugou only bit his lip and held out his hand. Tikki embraced him, the two exchanging their goodbyes through physical contact and locking eyes.

Finally, every miraculous had been returned to the box… all aside from two. Slowly, you slipped your necklace off and Bakugou his ring. Both of you looking at your kwamis once more.

“So… I guess this is goodbye.” You breathed out.

“Our jobs are done… balance has been restored.” Tikki spoke.

“But… maybe someone else will cause trouble and we all can see each other again.” Plagg tried to smile.

“Just… taking fucking care of each other or whatever…” Bakugou spoke, suddenly gripping the gem in his hand.

Tikki and Plagg looked at each other and smiled. “You two as well.”

You and Bakugou nodded slowly, touched by their dual words. Slowly, you both put the gems back. The box was closed a moment later, and just like before… it was as if kwamis didn’t exist.

You wiped away a few tears. You promised not to get upset over this. It was goodbye for now… but maybe someday in the future… you’d all be together again. Until then… you still had Katsuki. And he still had you.

You picked up the box, tucking it into your bag. Bakugou watched you with a raised brow. You looked at him with a sly smile.

“They never said we couldn’t be near their little magic box, didn’t they?” You spoke, blushing from how you couldn’t depart from them all the way.

Bakugou snickered, walking over to you. His hand slipping into yours. He looked at you with a fond expression. And then rolled his eyes, ruining the moment, but you really didn’t care, having too much fun always being by him.

“You’re such a little shit.” He breathed out. “But… guess this means if the world falls into chaos again… we won’t have to dig through shit here.”

You smiled softly, about to speak up again. But as you tried you noticed Bakugou had silenced you. His lips were roughly pressed against yours, but soon it turned sweet. You returning his affections.

The days of Red Beetle and Kuro were over with for now… but, it didn’t mean it was over for Katsuki and (Name). And thus… both of you would move forward with one another yet again. Excited to see what the future had in store and ready to further grow this relationship that had become so precious to both of you.

The End


End file.
